Bitten
by Rio Grande
Summary: Kagome's a college sudent thrown into the world of demons after being called upon by the FBI for some of her more unusual talents. But even with her partner Inuyasha by her side, things are starting to look a bit dangerous for the miko in-training.
1. Kagome the Criminal

Hey all, this is my Inuyasha fic that was purely 'One for the Money' (good book) induced. So, if you're sitting there thinking '... Hey... this sort of reminds me of...' Well yes! Generally, as a rule, it should.  
  
(Actually, the more I got into this, the more I realized it was no longer really like One For the Money, but it's still all good.)  
  
So sit back, laugh, and please don't sue because I don't own Inuyasha!  
  
-Rio Grande.  
  
(You know, I got a letter in the mail yesterday from some college, actually addressed to Rio Grande... Okay, whose name is REALLY Rio Grande?! Well, not mine, let me tell you...)  
*  
  
Bitten (The title has nothing to do with Inuyasha himself and will make sense later, and then you'll be like, 'Ohhh! Ok, so that's not TOTALLY lame!' I promise you.)  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter One: Kagome the Prostitute.  
*  
Kagome Higurashi was many, many things.  
  
For starters, she was a Japanese College student, living in Tokyo, stood about yay high, (for those of you who can't see, that would be around 5'6) and had a head of raven hair, that was slightly curled on the bottom, but only when she actually didn't want to it be.   
  
She was an amazing runner, and had not only joined, but in fact dominated, the track team, starting from her tender high school years as a freshman.  
  
She was a notable cook, in her opinion, though some (many) would argue that this was not actually one of her finer points...  
  
She was a diligent student. Studies came first! - Unless something slightly more interesting popped up - was her motto!  
  
She was a history major in college, and one day hoped to become a teacher of the subject. Not a vastly exiting aspiration, she knew, but the idea seemed to sit well with her, and gave plenty of time off for vacation.  
  
She was a proud pet owner. Her one, and only pet, a mushy, gluttonous and abundantly curious calico named Buyo, who she loved dearly.   
  
She was even, she had been told many a time, a very kind hearted person, constantly putting people before herself, to the point where one actually worried if it was a neurotic disorder of types.  
  
And she was also notably pretty, however this was not an attribute she had yet acknowledged.  
  
But... out of all of these things, the twenty-year-old Japanese girl had been almost completely - positively sure that 'Murderous Female Drug Using Gang Leader' had indeed NOT been on the list of things that she, Kagome, was. At least... last time she checked.  
  
"I-I really don't know why I'm here. I'm almost positive you have the wrong girl! No ... what am I saying... I'm DEFINITELY positive you have the wrong girl!" Kagome stuttered in a nervous, shrill voice, as two burly looking cops all but dragged her by her ankles to an office within the depths of the Japanese Law enforcement building.  
  
"I don't look like an opium addict to you, do I!?" she cried, jumping in front of the two men, suddenly, and startling them both. "Do I?!" Glancing at each other, and briefly exchanging nervous looks, that plainly stated this whole arrest was absolutely none of their business from here on out - both police officers decidedly grabbed the girl by her arms, and punted her into the office, securely locking the door behind them. Kagome was left to scramble to her knees before her composure completely evaporated and was permanently unobtainable, making seedy comments about the 'fuzz' under her breath all the while.  
  
The entire day, generally, had been an embarrassing one for the college student. From being stopped in the middle of the crowded street she was on, roughly slammed against a cop car and swiftly hand cuffed, while being read her rights and informed she was being taken in for illegal drug use, gang connections, and concealed weapon violations, to having to endure the stares of shocked onlookers, some of which she recognized... Kagome was ready to go home, cry her eyes out over a hot chocolate, and then completely disappear off the face of the Earth, preferably all at once. Her legs were getting whip-lash from shaking so much, her wrists stung from the cuffs, and her head ached like a mother as everything tried to process itself at the same time, hoping to penetrate the impressive force field made up completely of shock, effectively blocking her brain waves.  
  
"Kagome Higurashi..." a foreboding voice coming from Kagome's left breathed, much to the girl's overwhelming sense of horror.  
  
"I didn't do it! Honestly! I haven't even ever taken more than one ASPIRIN at once in my life, and the biggest gang connection I have is a third cousin twice removed who was MARRIED into the mafia!" she squeezed out all at once, her large, gray eyes threatening to overflow.  
  
"Um, Kagome-"  
  
"Heck, I've never even HELD a gun, much less carried an unauthorized one around in my jacket!"  
  
"-Dear, please stop-"  
  
"You can ask anyone, ANYONE, I've NEVER taken acid in my life! I don't know where you people got that!"  
  
"Kagome, if you'd just listen-"  
  
"And I'm totally abstinent!... okay, not COMPLETELY abstinent, but I think calling me a prostitute is pushing it a bit! It was in TENTH grade, and nobody knew about it! At least... I didn't think anyone knew about it... unless Hojo told you... Hojo told you DIDN'T he that sunova-"  
  
"KAGOME!" the raspy voice boomed, effectively silencing the thin girl.  
  
"... Yes?"  
  
"Too much information... really. Too much."  
  
"Oh. Right. Sorry. I'm new at this."  
  
"I know."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yes. I do. And what I've trying to been tell you for the past ten minutes is... we aren't going to arrest you."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You promise?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well... all right... then... what was THAT all about!" Kagome asked, obviously referring to her near incarceration.  
  
"Why don't you sit down first, and then we'll talk about it?" The voice offered, flicking on a light, and revealing themselves to Kagome.  
  
The source of the voice, Kagome was only mildly surprised to discover, all things considered, came from an elderly old lady sitting at a desk. Her face was almost completely composed of wrinkles, and her complexion was what one would kindly call 'weather worn.' Her long silver hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she sported a black eye patch that made her look vaguely like Captain Hook. From the sound of her voice, Kagome thought she sounded rather as though she had, back in the day, gone around saying things like, 'Here Kiddie, want a cig?' But... since she WAS a cop... Most likely she hadn't.  
  
"I am Detective Kaede Tsuwora... And the chief of the Tokyo Criminal Investigation Unit." *  
  
"That's... so nice for you..." Kagome said, out of lack of better things to say.  
  
"Child, you look like you're going to pass out... want to take a seat?" Kagome blushed, suddenly realizing she was still on her knees on the floor from where she had been unceremoniously dropped, before quickly nodding and pulling herself up on to a chair opposite the Detective, smoothing out her short jeans skirt as she did so.  
  
"Well... Detective Tsuwora... you said you weren't going to arrest me, so what ARE you going to do?" Kagome asked, cutting right to the heart of the subject. It was when she was in situations like this; she rarely beat around the bush.  
  
"It's just Kaede child, and I am truly sorry to have startled you like that. It was completely uncalled for." Kagome made a vague, strangled sound in the back of her throat, and Kaede continued onward before the girl could get anything equally as uncalled for out. "You see, we weren't actually going to arrest you for your gang connections..." Kagome swore she saw Kaede's lip twitch in to what might have been a highly amused smile, but quickly wasn't. "We were just using that to cover up for what we really needed you for... and couldn't be too careful. There are eyes everywhere, these days."  
  
"There are?" Kagome said, arching an eyebrow.  
  
"Yes, and especially on you."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"You."  
  
"Hmm..." Kagome said, chewing her lip in an effort to suppress a nervous grin. What was this? Ex-files? And if it was, she KNEW how that show ended and wanted out.  
  
"Listen, I know this must be hard to swallow, and if it were me, I wouldn't believe one word that came out of my own mouth, but... you must trust what I'm about to tell you." Kaede said, leaning forward, her tone ominous and low.  
  
"Um... sure..." Kagome agreed, crossing her fingers behind the chair.  
  
"All right... well... in a nut shell... The government has been trying to hide it, and has done so, successfully, but there are demons out there. Real, live demons. Most of them are in disguise, hiding their powers and going on as normal people, however others... others are dangerous, and choose to use their demonic strength to reek havoc on the mortals. I am part of the Tokyo FBI that keeps in check those demons, and subdues them when the occasion calls for it. I'm stationed here at the Tokyo Police Head Quarters because it's the epicenter of Tokyo's demonic activity. I called to have you here, and let you in on all this, because you may just have the powers we need to bring the latest demon nuisance down."  
  
"7th Ave is the epicenter of Tokyo's demonic activity? No way, that's where I bought my first bra!" Was all Kagome had to say to THAT. No WAY was the best area in Tokyo for splurge shopping a hang out for monsters!  
  
"Now Kagome, I know this is all incredibly awkward for you, but you must take this seriously! This demon we are currently hunting down is dangerous and has already taken many lives! We need you!" Kaede said, a hint of steel in her voice.  
  
"Why? Why me? Why do you need my help and WHY should I believe you?" Kagome asked, standing up quickly and distantly hearing her chair crash to the floor as she smacked her hands on the desk in front of her. "This sounds like some loony story I'd see on a crappy TV show! It's like. like.... area 51 or something! I don't believe this! You're crazy!" Kagome cried. Being the sweet, humble girl she usually was, even Kagome was startled by her sudden outburst. However, this seemed to be just the last straw on the camel's back, that day...  
  
"Please Kagome, calm yourself!"  
  
"Calm myself? PLEASE! I'M not the one going on about DEMONS living in BLOOMINGDALES!* You're totally wacko and I am OUT of here. I want nothing to do with what Tokyo's police force sees as a good joke!" the girl said, decidedly picking up her purse she had dropped to the floor with all of the confusion, and then dashing out the door, track skills coming into play as she whizzed by numerous police men on her way out, Kaede calling for her to come back in the distance... Kagome felt tears prick at her eyes. This was just insane... what was going on?  
  
'I can't believe they arrested me! In front of all of those people!? The NERVE! And just to have it be some child's idea of a funny prank? Next cop I see is going DOWN! Who ever heard of DEMON'S living in TOKYO?' she thought furiously, storming down the hall, eyes watching the floor beneath her.  
  
WHAM.  
  
"Oof!" Kagome gasped, slamming head on with something warm and solid, only to come crashing down to the floor with it, the stunned girl coming out on top. "EEK! Sorry! I-" Kagome gasped, and stopped in mid-frantic apology, looking down to see just who she had run into.  
  
"Y-you're... you're... a..." she stuttered stupidly, feeling as though her brain were about to short-circuit as she stared breathlessly at the male beneath her.  
  
He was a tan guy, couldn't have been much older than her, with long, silky white hair, piercing, golden cat-like eyes, and dog-ears on top of his head. Not to mention a good, solid build from the feel of it. Kagome was slightly flushed as she got out the word she had been floundering for. "A DEMON!" she croaked. The man beneath her seemed to be a little pleased about this proclamation, much to Kagome's sudden fear, and he even smirked a little, flashing a bit of fang as he replied in a deep, boyish voice.  
  
"Yeah. I am. And what are you supposed to be?"  
  
It was at this point that Kagome's eyes rolled up into her head, and her face dropped onto the man's chest like a (rather small) sack of potatoes as she fainted dead away.  
  
*- I don't know if this unit exists. I don't know if Tokyo has an FBI. I just don't know! Pretend it does for now and it'll make everything easier for both of us.  
  
*They probably don't have that many Bloomingdale's in Japan either. Ohhh weelll.  
  
*  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Whooo... I am so happy because I just finished writing the whole plot out for this story. I have evvverrything planned out. Of course, I haven't actually gotten to the ending yet... but it's a long way off so who CARES? Please review,  
  
~Rio Grande 


	2. Kagome the Miko

Thanks everyone for the encouraging reviews! I'm sorry this chapter didn't come out as quickly as I wanted it to. But, basically, ALL of my fics have been acquiring the annoying tendency to come out slower than I want them to. It's all THEIR fault! Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha, and please enjoy.  
  
Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Two: Nooo, it's. Kagome The Miko.  
  
  
  
The first time Kagome came around, she was worried, since everything was blurry around the edges, and she felt the bile rising to her throat at an alarming rate. Never a good sign, as she'd found it. Cracking her eyes open, she caught sight of an inquisitive Kaede and . what was his name? Inuyasha? (Jeez, he must have had SOME family issues.) -Staring down at her. Not exactly what she wanted to see after waking with a pounding head ache- but hey! At least she was conscious.  
  
"Oh, you're up. Darnit." Kaede said, swiftly and efficiently pumping a clear liquid substance into Kagome's thin arm. The girl's eyes nearly bulged out of her head, she made a painful choking noise, and then everything began to swirl together to create one, ugly brown color. Okay, scratch that whole 'conscious' thing. Just what did these people think they were doing!?  
  
The next time Kagome came around, she was really scared. Things were still kind of foggy up there, but she was sure she remembered Detective Kaede taking a syringe to her arm and pumping her full of some soporific drug! Holding her breath and carefully considering her options, as the feeling slowly but surly returned to her limbs and fingers, Kagome carefully cracked one tentative gray eye open.  
  
There they were again, those conniving bastards. Inuyasha and Kaede were sitting off to the side now, discussing something heatedly, and they had even acquired a new partner in crime! A dashing looking young man with a small ponytail at the back of his head, and bright purple eyes. Kagome quickly snapped her eye shut again and played dead. Admittedly, not a hard feat to pull off when half of your body is still suffering the effects of heavy drug.  
  
'I feel. different.' Kagome acknowledged, flexing her fingers. Ha! They came near her and she'd gouge their eyes out! All of 'em! 'I feel like there's something inside of me that wasn't there before. or it was. I just couldn't tell. God, I'm talking to mySELF and I still have no idea what I'm saying!'  
  
"Rise and shine, cupcake. I can tell you're awake. I can hear your heart rate fluctuate" Inuyasha informed the girl, his tone pleasant, with definite underlying steel. He moseyed over to her with a wicked gleam in his eye.  
  
"Well, that's creepy," Kagome said, sighing and opening her eyes, fingers alert and ready. If they'd just all get close enough she'd show them what it felt like to REALLY be in pain!  
  
"Not really, considering Inuyasha is half demon," Kaede said, hobbling up to the pair, the young man right behind her. Kagome briefly wondered why THAT in itself wasn't creepy to the woman. "Child, I am sorry about before, but the ritual is usually performed best when the subject is not conscious. Sometimes the effects are. overwhelming."  
  
"Oh my God! What did you do to me!?" Kagome screeched as best she could, hopefully bursting Inuyasha's stupid eardrum with the way her heart was pounding. They hadn't planted a chip in her brain or anything? Like on that show, Buffy! The Vampire Slayer!  
  
"Oh, don't worry, nothing terrible. Nothing illegal," the young man next to Kaede assured her, quickly giving off a placating smile. Kagome let out a breath. Right, of course. Brain surgery could be done while the subject was conscious after all! AND, on Buffy, it had been a VAMPIRE who had the chip planted in his brain, by the army! To stop it from killing people!  
  
"We just awakened your dormant mystical powers that have been polluted by the material world so that you can help us destroy a homicidal demon." Kaede explained quickly, casually. Kagome's jaw dropped. Come again?  
  
"You did WHAT?"  
  
"Well, you live in a shrine, you must know all about this sort of thing," the young man said, reasonably.  
  
"First of all: How do you know where I live? Second of all: My shrine isn't part of WICCA! I don't know what you're talking about! Freaking murdering demons and dormant powers? You're all in some sort of cult!"  
  
"That's a bit harsh," Kaede mentioned.  
  
"No, it's accurate."  
  
"Well, if you consider the FBI a cult. sure." Inuyasha snorted, folding his arms and leaning against a wall. Kagome glared at him, and he glared right back, though she definitely caught some playfulness in his liquid gold gaze. He was just toying with her! The jerk! How dare he toy with her when she was in such a vulnerable and weak state! Kagome sorely wished now that she had power over her legs. She could have made a real show of struggling and thrashing around!  
  
"Let's get some things cleared up first," Kaede said, pulling up a chair, and sitting next to Kagome's bed. She looked all-serious like, and Kagome decided that since, for the time being, there was nothing better to do, she might as well listen to the old woman.  
  
"You remembered what I told you about the demon's, and your job as a miko to help us track down the latest menace. right?" Kaede asked, hopefully.  
  
"Yes." Kagome conceded. She remembered. She didn't believe, but she remembered.  
  
"Well. if you were to take the case, which we, honestly, can't FORCE you to accept, these two young men here would be your partners." The woman said, nodding to the two men.  
  
"I bet that convinced you to take the job, didn't it?" the purple eyed man said, winking suggestively.  
  
"No." My, was he cocky.  
  
"Ouch," he hissed, as Inuyasha laughed at him from his corner.  
  
"That would have been Miroku Houshi, the FBI's very own slightly less than holy priest. He may not look like much, but he's one of humanities best demon trackers, he can cleanse vengeful spirits like nothing else, and knows more about the demon race and their habits than almost any other mortal on the planet." she admitted, as Miroku puffed out his chest proudly.  
  
"Not a hard feat to pull of when you made the whole race UP yourSELF," Kagome pointed out sweetly.  
  
"Ouch," Miroku repeated, Inuyasha really having a good time of it in that corner.  
  
"And that's FBI agent Inuyasha, the silver haired one. Hard to miss. You briefly met him before you fainted. He's half demon, as I've mentioned, and is a formidable opponent to any true demon. Even I can say it," the woman said, as if it was giving her great pains to compliment either of the boys. Inuyasha seemed to be enjoying the praises well enough, though.  
  
"Peachy. Really. But I'm not going to do any of this demon hunting stuff with you, since I think you're all off your rockers, and I'd like to go home now, and not think about what illegal stuff you did to me while I was under the effects of your drug, okay?" Kagome said, realizing she could sit up now, and doing so, with gusto.  
  
"We didn't do anything illegal to you, Ms. Kagome," Miroku assured the girl once more. "It's just, since we sorely need a miko for this apprehension. and since you unwittingly have a surplus of miko blood running through your very veins, I had to awaken it, so that you could effectively begin to master your powers, and help us."  
  
"Oh, okay then. That's not so bad." she dead panned.  
  
"Stop being so damn selfish, girl!" Inuyasha suddenly shouted, startling everyone. "There are people dying out there, getting slaughtered by this mother-fucker we're trying to get, and here you sit refusing to have any part in helping out! You're only thinking of yourself and YOUR insecurities!" He stormed over to her, and Kagome shrunk back as he placed his hands, with what looked like claws, on either side of her, coming nose to nose. "Do you know how many people he has killed? Our guy? Make a while guess," he urged.  
  
"Err."  
  
"Hundreds. Just, hundreds."  
  
"What?" Kagome asked, confused. "If he's killing so many people, why haven't you stopped him yet, shouldn't he have slipped up or something, made it easier to catch him?" Momentarily, because of the fierceness in Inuyasha's voice, she was forgetting she didn't believe any of this BS.  
  
"Demon murderers are different, Kagome. They can kill many more people at one time, and can leave the scene faster than any mortal could," Kaede explained, sighing. "And he's not just killing humans. He's killing demons, spirits, and magical creatures, too."  
  
"." Inuyasha had backed up, and was suddenly having her doubts about this all being a really big joke. they seemed so. serious! On the other hand, she didn't want this to all be some sort of Candid Camera deal.  
  
Still seeing the obvious hesitance in Kagome's face, it was always hard to believe for people like her, Kaede made a decision right then and there. She could feel Kagome's strong miko powers without even touching her, and was going to have this girl work for her if it was the last thing she did, her stubborn attitude be damned.  
  
"Kagome, I know what you need. You need proof."  
  
"Damn skippy." Kagome said, finding herself suddenly quite out of character. She hardly ever cursed! She was the good girl! Look! Look! These people were already having a negative effect on her!  
  
"Well, and I don't usually do this to humans we recruit off the street, but since I've just witnessed the fact that your miko powers have amazing potential, I'm going to make an exception. I'm going to show you what we're all about. Give you the grand tour of the offices, if you will." Kaede said, closing her eyes as she talked.  
  
"What! You can't do that! Look at her! She's not going to agree with any of this! She'll spill our secrets to the whole world! She's just a-!" Before the man could go any further, and REALLY deter Kagome from becoming part of the 'team', Kaede cut him off, and Miroku stepped on his foot. Hard.  
  
"ASIDE, from what it seems right now, Inuyasha, I think that Kagome really does have a good heart. She's just in shock. Isn't that right, girl?"  
  
"." Kagome had a sort of glazed over look in her eyes, and her mouth was hanging open.  
  
"See? Shock."  
  
"Well, Ms. Kagome, if you'll let me escort you, I think it's time for that tour, and perhaps some background information on the man that we're after. It could very possibly convince you to join us!" Miroku said happily, helping her off her cot, and leading her to the door, a charming smile on his face. Kagome blushed and bit her lip. He WAS quite handsome.  
  
"Well at least SOMEONE is being polite around here," she said, shooting a pointed look at Inuyasha, who was grouchily following the group. He snorted derisively and stuck his nose up in a very childlike manner. Kagome would have giggled if she hadn't been so swamped with fear and an overwhelming feeling of impending doom.  
  
"Welcome to the demon sector of the FBI, Kagome Higurashi. We trust you will keep everything you see today with us a secret . or else." Kaede commented before throwing open the doors that led out of the tiny room the four had been occupying. Kagome was half sure she was just joking around.  
  
At first glance, what Kagome saw didn't look that much different from the law firm she had interned at once, filled with cubicles and printing machines and people dashing around with coffee cups. it was just the subtle differences. The various ancient weapons hung over walls, the tranquilizer gun off to her side, the sound of an inhuman cry off in the distance, (actually, she had gotten that at the law firm, too.) the police uniforms dabbled here and there, the badges, and most notably, the fact that not everyone who worked there was totally human.  
  
Indeed, some of the officers and detectives scattered around the large room Kagome had all but stumbled into, seemed to have an extra fang or too, eyes that, like Inuyasha's, seemed more animal like than anything else, claws, tails, odd tattoos, anomalous skin tones, (such as, for instance, green.) and some people just looked alien all together, taking the form of toad like creatures, or having wings and beaks. What WAS this? MIB?  
  
"They aren't. they aren't. human!" Kagome gurgled, clinging to Miroku's arm, surprised. No way! This couldn't be happening, it just wasn't real! She had been so sure this was all a prank, but it was turning out to be a pretty damn elaborate one, and something she was sure candid camera wouldn't have gone through all of the trouble just to set up for little old her.  
  
"Yes, we have many hanyous, and full demons alike, working for this section of the government. It's law enforcement all the same to them, be it human or demon, and these folks generally seem to have an easier time taking down the demon delinquents of our world, than the normal agents." Kaede explained, leading the group forward.  
  
"Except for me!" Miroku pointed out, beaming. "I'm one of the only human agents, except for the occasional miko, such as yourself, in this section of the FBI."  
  
"You're mother must be so proud," Kaede mumbled, as the group neared a door at the back of the large office. Kagome held her breath as she realized that this was where those screams were coming from. they were so. primitive!  
  
"This is where we temporarily hold our demon criminals until they can be transferred to a more secure facility!" Kaede yelled over the protesting raucous, as everyone passed through the threshold.  
  
"Are you telling me this isn't secure?!" Kagome squeaked, glancing at just who was in the detaining cells, occupying the new room. Disgusting, slimy, skanky, dangerous and down right evil looking. things. glared out at her from their cells, some howling like there was no tomorrow (and for some, actually, there might not be,) and some mumbling ominously to themselves in corners, glaring at her like she was a fresh piece of meat they wished they could sink their sharp, irregularly big fangs into.  
  
'Gulp.' Kagome, who wasn't even completely recovered after being drugged, felt as though she just might keel over again.  
  
"Don't worry, they can't get out of those cells," Miroku assured her, warmly. Kagome returned the smile with a thankful one of her own. That is, until she realized where the always dashing and polite Miroku's hand was slowly but surly sliding down to. Her eyes widened, and she briefly saw red, as that LECHEROUS excuse for a PRIEST but his hand right over her butt and gave it an affectionate pinch of encouragement. "You'll be fine,"  
  
"OMIGOD!" Kagome screeched, drawing her hand back to slap him hard across the face. Huffing, as some of the incarcerated demons laughed at Miroku's slap mark, Kagome hung back and walked with Inuyasha, who was also sniggering quietly, finding the rude brute to be a lot more appealing just then than Miroku. At least this guy was honest about his annoying attitude! The NERVE! And just went she was so freaked and vulnerable, too!  
  
As they were about to leave the detaining room, (much to Kagome's relief) something caught the girl's eye that gave her pause. A woman. A perfectly normal looking, vaguely attractive woman, standing alone in a cell. The most heavily surveyed and secure looking cell, it's walls were made of bulletproof and she was sure something-else-proof, plastic, her hands cuffed together and connecting to a nearby wall by a chain, a picture of her on at least six monitors off to the side, watched carefully by a few agents. Kagome cocked her head as the woman (who was wearing a small leather outfit that did nothing to hid her obvious voluptuousness.) gave her a friendly little smile, her short brown hair held out of her face by a cute headband.  
  
"What's SHE in for? She's being pretty heavily monitored, and she doesn't even look dangerous." Kagome asked of Inuyasha, all the while keeping a wary eye on Miroku, even though he was now a good two yards away, walking with Kaede.  
  
"Something you're going to have to learn is, sometimes the most dangerous demon's are the human looking ones. That's Yura. She's a class B demon, and her favorite pastime is mass decapitating of unsuspecting mortals, such as yourself," Yura and Inuyasha's eyes met, deep black meeting fiery gold, and instantly a huffy, evil scowl formed on Yura's face, a small growl reverberating in her throat. She looked. nasty. "And she REALLY hates me," Inuyasha added.  
  
"Why?" Kagome, still a little bit shaken over the fact that this innocent looking woman was capable of murder.  
  
"Because I was the one who brought her in, about two days ago. She's been on the wanted list for years." Inuyasha said, casually. Kagome took a step back to get a better look at the half man she had passed off as rude and just generally mean. Maybe there WAS some bite to his incessant bark.  
  
When they had finally reached the door, Kagome spared one look back at Yura, who stared intensely back at her, as if asking for a favor of sorts. When Kagome felt something thin and cold slide across her cheek, a bad vibe definitely in the air, she shuddered and quickly exited the room, suddenly agreeing with Inuyasha's description. That woman was odd, to say the least. And now that she had that new feeling in her, Kagome could tell she had an evil aura that was not to be trifled with. She should have noticed it before, but Yura was a tricky one, it would seem.  
  
'Just what did these guys do to me? To give me this new awareness of everyone around me? It's as if I can feel everyone's life force, pulsating, everywhere,' She glanced at her dog eared companion, who was paying no attention to her. 'He has a very strong life force. aura. whatever.'  
  
The new room was simple. A breath of fresh air, really. It had a few tables in it, with numerous stacks of papers thrown haphazardly around, and file cabinets lined the walls, which also had maps, diagrams, and photographic evidence tacked up on it. Kagome wisely decided NOT to look at the pictures, as she could tell a popular theme there was red. The walls were painted off white, and the flooring was scratchy blue rug. Kagome took as seat with everyone else at what looked like a conference table, listening to what everyone had to say with a bit more attentiveness now that she was pretty sure these guys weren't fibbing. She didn't want to believe it but. she was starting to give in and trust what these people were saying, acting like they really were government agents asking for her help. Though what SHE could do to help these guys, when it came to gruesome demons of the likes she had just seen, was beyond her.  
  
"Kagome, this is the conference room where we, mainly, spend our days discussing the demonic murdered we've been telling you about. his name is Naruku, and we need you to help us find him." Kaede started out with, folding her hands in front of her. Now, this was a woman who had TACT.  
  
"Oh, come on! I can't believe you just told her his NAME! She's not going to go along with this, and now she has all this valuable information- "  
  
"Shut up, Inuyasha," Kaede said shortly, waving him off, and forging forward. "Kagome, ordinarily, we wouldn't be so desperate for help, but our usual miko is . out of town . and this case is in dire need of a miko with the powers you have. A lesser one just won't do,"  
  
"Am I really that strong?" Kagome asked, looking at her hands speculatively.  
  
"Technically, yes. However you don't know how to harness your mystical powers properly, yet. But don't worry, not only I, but Miroku can help you master these powers, if you choose to help us." Kaede said, Miroku nodding gravely in agreement. Kagome avoided his gaze.  
  
"What would I be able to do, if I released these incredible 'miko powers' of mine." Kagome asked, curiously. Pictures of girls with short skirts and fire flying out of their fingers was what came to mind, generally. Her knowledge of miko's and their powers, for all that she used to live in Sunset Shrine with her family, before she moved out, was iffy, to say the least.  
  
"Well, a miko's powers are very spiritual, and mainly revolve around healing and purifying. Miko's used to be famous for their healing powers, and their ability to purify demonic or evil things around them. Their general weapon used to be a bow and arrow, but since we are in the new millennium now, we'll have a semi-automatic and defense spray on hand for you." The woman said, matter-o-factly.  
  
"Oh. But. I'm still a bit confused as to why I'm so important to this team," Kagome admitted, fully realizing she was being a nosy pain in the ass, but also deciding not to agree to anything before she knew all the details. This didn't look like one of those jobs you could just casually accept without reading all the fine print.  
  
"Ms. Kagome, sometimes, demon's cannot simply be stopped by brute force, aside from what Inuyasha claims," Miroku said solemnly, as said hanyou rolled his eyes and made a funny face behind Miroku's back. Kagome stifled a grin. "Sometimes they need to be destroyed in a more. spiritual way,"  
  
"Like, what, I have to pray them to death?"  
  
"Kagome, one of the main reasons this terrible demon, Naruku, is on such a rampage, is because he has gotten a hold of a jewel that can enhance his powers tenfold. It's called the Shikon Jewel." Kaede said, as if the name of this jewel were supposed to bring shivers now Kagome's spine. It didn't, really, but Kagome pretended to be weirded out, so Kaede wouldn't be so disappointed. "He has tainted this jewel with his wicked soul, and used it to become one of the most powerful demons we have seen in many, many years. But, if we can get that jewel off him, our forces should be enough to take him down,"  
  
"Sooo. you want me to get this jewel for you?" Everyone exchanged cautious glances.  
  
"It's not so easy. You couldn't just waltz up to this man and take it. His powers are vast beyond anything you can imagine. which is why we need you on the 'team.' Once you start training with us, we can use your purifying skills to un-taint the jewel, possibly without even touching us. Or at least you could assist us in capturing it, and then purifying it. Once that is done, it will be useless to Naruku, and might actually destroy him, if its new, purified aura is as strong as we think it can be."  
  
"Sounds spiffy,"  
  
"We like to think so," Miroku admitted. "But it's not as easy as it sounds. It will take a lot of power and energy on your part, since purifying things, especially something as defiled as our Shikon Jewel, is never easy. Not to mention, that Naruku is very good at eluding us, and leaving bloody trails to follow, that usually ends up being dead ends. There is a very good reason for why we have been working on this case so long. If you join us, it could take a while, and some things you see might scare you."  
  
"Yeah, see those pictures on the wall? Those are the more humane ones." Inuyasha said. "This man is a maniac who is simply killing people off for the pure blood lust and hell of it. He even plays games with us. Leaves clues, and marks the people he kills, like he's proud. Had to let us know that this is his handiwork." Inuyasha continued, and Kagome felt her stomach churn uncomfortably.  
  
"What kind of marks?" she had to ask.  
  
"Bite marks, right over the heart. We think he likes to taste his victim's blood, so that their blood, now darkened with fear, can further feed the Shikon." Inuyasha said, no emotion in his voice.  
  
"Bleck."  
  
"This is going to be a big obligation Kagome, and many a time you might have to put your neck on the line for someone else. Your life could be at risk constantly. but we have to get this murderer. The things he has done cannot be gone unpunished. He's slowly but surly becoming public, and that is one of the worst things that could happen. With his sort of power, the demon population, as well as a possibly good amount of the human population, would be panicked, if word got out he was on a killing spree." Kaede said, gravely.  
  
It was obvious to the girl that they didn't want to sugar coat anything here. No false pretenses about her walking around in hot leather pants, taking out the bad guys with skill and ease. This was going to be long, hard, and nasty. And a lot of work on her part. Have fun. Well, that's at least the message she got.  
  
"Whoa." Kagome said, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her head. "I have to think about this."  
  
"That's understandable. In fact, you don't have to give us an answer today, we can get in contact with you tomorrow, once you've had time to sleep on it. Just keep in mind, if we catch this demon together, how many lives we could be saving." Kaede said, staring deep into Kagome's gray eyes.  
  
"Of course, I could be brutally murdered in the process."  
  
"Details details," Miroku joked, standing up to help Kagome out of her seat. She quickly slid out of her seat herself, edging away from him. She knew his game now, and wasn't just about to be fooled again. Miroku looked vaguely disappointed.  
  
"Please make the right decision Kagome. I know it's a scary idea, and that you're very confused right now. but we could use your help so much. Miko's are one of a demon fighter's greatest allies, and you don't know what sort of potential you have." Kaede said softly.  
  
"Yes Kagome, we would be honored to work with you. And we'd help you all along the way," Miroku reminded her, enticingly. Kagome rolled her eyes.  
  
"Feh." Inuyasha pointed out.  
  
"Well, glad to know you're enthusiastic." Kagome huffed, folding her arms. Suddenly, Inuyasha gave her a definite once over, and she felt the heat rush to her cheeks. Well!  
  
"Is it true, Kaede, that all mikos are somehow related?" he asked, quickly.  
  
"Er, YOU'RE not picking from the random tree," Kagome said, raising an eyebrow. Kaede smiled, a bit wistfully, though.  
  
"Yes. It is. I noticed it too." she said simply.  
  
"Um?" Kagome offered, as Inuyasha and Kaede quickly got discomfited and avoided her gaze.  
  
"Well, Ms. Kagome, I think you should go home now and get started on that sleeping we suggested. You have seen many things today that would disturb and frighten a normal human, but you've been handling it beautifully! Sleep can only help you on the process to total acceptation," Miroku said, leading her to the door, and breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled upon the room.  
  
"Um, how will you get in contact with me?" Kagome asked, as everyone ushered her out the door, planning on following her to the exit, apparently.  
  
"We'll call you," Kaede said, simply. "We have your home number."  
  
"Great." she sighed. She could see herself having hard time getting out of this whole thing, even if she really wanted to. She let herself be led back down a maze of halls, and finally back into the main lobby, where she could see it was already late afternoon from the windows. Wow. how long had she spent in that hell hole? In truth, she had no idea how long they had her under, when they were doing that. awakening process. whatever the hell that was, she still wasn't sure. All she knew was, the weird, oddly aware of everything around her feeling was back, and she could almost feel the heartbeats of people around her, and effortlessly read their emotions as they whooshed past. It was disconcerting, and oddly spiritual, but on a different level then praying, or going to a shrine. It was more. powerful, seemed to be a fitting word.  
  
"Take care Ms. Kagome, have a good night!" Miroku said politely, as he hailed her a cab. But Kagome was not to be fooled. She inched around him to get into the offered automobile. Miroku blew out a long breath, apparently, he had really ruined it with this one.  
  
"Think on our words girl!" Kaede reminded from the doorway.  
  
"If you don't accept, we'll kill you!" Inuyasha added, kind as ever.  
  
"He's kidding!" Miroku and Kaede assured the uneasy college student in unison, both bopping the rude man over the head. He scowled and moved away from them. He had been SERIOUS!  
  
"Bye." Kagome said, awkwardly, waving hesitantly as the cab roared off, and drove her back to her apartment.  
  
*  
  
"How do I get INTO these situations?" Kagome groaned, throwing open the door of her humble apartment, and tossing her hand bag to the side, along with her keys.  
  
Kagome Higurashi's apartment wasn't at all impressive, in fact, it was a little un-impressive. But, for a sophomore college student? It was perfect. And Kagome was overly proud of it, since she had been saving up since sophomore year of HIGHSCHOOL for an apartment of her own, so she wouldn't have to go through the usually torturous and inhumane ordeal of which one referred to as dorms. This tiny, rickety excuse for a home was just what she needed. It made her feel older, and more responsible. Something to come back to at the end of the day and curl up with a nice pint of ice-cream with, without having to worry about her mother berating her for eating sweets before dinner. (Yeah, oh boy was SHE mature.) .Even though sometimes, living alone got. lonely. And frightening, for those nights when there was no one to chase the demons that live under the bed away. (She was feeling that much more insecure now that she had indisputable proof that there probably WAS monster or demon living down there.)  
  
The kitchen was attached the relatively homey looking, Ikea made living room, and a small dining room of sorts was attached to that, no doors in sight. In fact, the only doors to speak of was the bathroom door, a nice sort of bathroom if you liked 70's décor and a usually clogged toilet, a closet door, and, of course, the door to her own bedroom. Her sanctuary, a clustered room filled to the brim with papers, text books, personal flotsam, clothing, and old stuffed animals she couldn't bare to leave at home. Buyo, the cat, could most days be found slumbering in the middle of her bed, leaving orange hair wherever his bit fat butt touched, and creating an awkward warm spot around her knees whenever Kagome turned in for the night, and Buyo leapt out onto the fire escape for his nightly expeditions. It was Kagome's personal opinion that he was the leader of the Tokyo kitty mafia, and had yet to tell her about it. Well, that probably wasn't true. Buyo definitely would have let her in on that sort of thing, if he really was a 'Godfather' type figure to the feline population of her neighborhood. She and Buyo were tight like that.  
  
Kagome slowly, laboriously opened her eyes, peeling her head off the counter, and eyed the refrigerator contemplatively. It was a good possibility that she would be heading over there next, but her legs were still made of jelly, and her head was still spinning. She didn't really know if her stomach could hold down much at this point, either. God, this whole thing, from the demons to the mikoness to the murdering and partnership, was affecting her more than she had first assumed. She was a strong, resilient girl! She'd get through this!.  
  
Why her!!??  
  
It wasn't as if she didn't have enough problems, college a big hassle in itself, but THIS she didn't need to deal with. Even if she DIDN'T accept the job, she had a terrible feeling these people weren't just going to let her forget that she had been let in on the secret underground of the world of demons, so to speak. Damn them! They should have kept their twisted little secret to themselves! Now all she could think about was demons! Where did they live, what did they do, how come she never heard about any of them, and hadn't seen a real one in her entire life? Were they disguised, did they live in a secret part of town? Was her life at constant risk?!? God she had to KNOW!  
  
"Calm down girl, you're going to blow a gasket." The curly raven haired, twenty year old reminded herself, eventually getting up the strength to trudge over to the fridge, and pull out a carton of strawberries. Of course, once she had her head in there, she spotted the chocolate sauce. and everyone KNOWS that chocolate sauce goes great with strawberries. and if she was going to start with the chocolate sauce, she might as well add in all of the other ramifications, and get out the whipped cream, too! Maybe some powdered sugar, and they were in business!  
  
Food, generally, calmed her down.  
  
'Ohhh I'm bad,' Kagome was thinking, when suddenly her doorbell began to incessantly ring, startling Kagome so much she dropped the whipped cream, and cursed lightly as it landed on her toe.  
  
"Damn it all, I'm coming! Stop ringing the doorbell you idiots!" Kagome yelled, marching over to the front door, having a pretty good idea of who would be wanting admittance, and who would be so darn irritating about it.  
  
Sure enough, the annoying intruders, waiting happily at her doorstep, according to the peep-hole, were Keiko and Kiki.  
  
"Ungh, just what I need, dumb and dumber," Kagome laughed lightly to herself, opening the door for her two best friends since childhood, and accepting the fact that in mere moments they were going to have her apartment trashed. It was just their way.  
  
"Kagome-chan! Are you okay?" Keiko asked, quickly stepping through the threshold and taking the, admittedly pale and sickly looking, girl by the hands. Kagome's eye twitched slightly. Great. She even looked sick.  
  
"I'm. fine. I'm all right," she said, not just yet ready to admit to her friends what she had been up to that day, and why she looked like someone had driven over her with a steamroller.  
  
"Well, if you're so great, then WHY were you not at the movie theatre today, at twelve? You should have seen Hojo! He looked crestfallen!" Kiko said, frowning, and folding her arms, as she swiftly traveled over to the kitchen and began popping KAGOME'S strawberries like they were aspirin.  
  
"Eek! I forgot all about the movies!" Actually, she hadn't, she had just been arrested on her way there, and handed over to the FBI. but whatever. They didn't need to know that. "I'm so sorry!"  
  
"What happened? Were you studying for that ancient Japanese exam you have coming up?" Keiko asked, sitting down in a stool by the kitchen, no longer worried about Kagome's health, and, in fact, looking vaguely bored. That was the way she worked, one extreme to the other with the snap of a finger.  
  
".Yeah. Sure," Kagome offered, going over and joining Kiki with the strawberry chugging. "So, how was the movie?"  
  
Kagome, Keiko, and Kiki had all been best friends since elementary school. The KKK they had proudly called themselves. until they had gotten a little older and people no longer found the name cute, but, in fact, a little disturbing, so they quickly changed their name to the troublesome trio. Until they got a little older than that and realized stupid little nicknames were generally lame.  
  
They had lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same high school, had the same friends, and all got into the same college. Annoying, hu? Keiko and Kiki shared a dorm at the college now, Tokyo College, and Kagome getting to be the one who got her own apartment, since she was smart and had cut back on things like splurging at the mall when she was in high school, in order to save up. Of course, people had considered her a little weird and geeky for it, leaving for some. terrible. emotional scarring... but hell! Now she had her own apartment, and THEY were all cramped into icky little dorms. Mwahahahaha.  
  
"OhhhhmiGod. it was so annoying," Keiko said, sighing despairingly as Kiki rolled her eyes behind her back. "Tai was SUCH an ASS, and he kept trying to suck face when he KNOWS I'm still pissed at him for the other night with Minako. And with Kiki and Hojo just sitting there, trying to watch the movie? It was sooo awkward, and I'm definitely dumping him. He was hot at that party. but in the light? His complexion needs to meet the pro-active plan, is all I can say," she decided firmly, waving her perfectly manicured hands around dramatically.  
  
Keiki was the social butterfly of the group, so to speak. She was the girly girl, who was the first to kiss a guy, the first with a boyfriend, and the first to make it to second base, of all three girls, and always was catching the eye of the football players in high school. She was petite and very pretty, a bit shorter than Kagome, with dark black hair pulled back with a headband, landing in perfectly even, shiny locks around her shoulders. Her lips were perfect and pink, that went well with her button nose. She liked to wear cute t-shirts that said things like 'yield to the princess', and pea-coats, and khaki mini skirts. She wore a tiffany's bracelet, and loved glitter. All right, so the description was a little harsh, but there was definitely a reason that Kagome and Keiko had stayed friends for so long. Keiko could be nice, caring, and extremely loyal. Her attention span rivaled that of a goldfish, but at least she always kept you on your toes and liked to do fun new things. You know, the type that was the best at truth or dare. She also periodically switched boyfriends, depending on what mood she was in that morning. Kagome envied the fact that she could afford to be so frivolous. she didn't have nearly as easy a time with boyfriends as Keiko did, since she was currently still in denial over the fact that she could be equally as attractive as her friend, if she put her mind to it.  
  
"Well, aside from the drama queen's experience, I thought the whole thing was fine. The movie was enjoyable, and I think Hojo got a kick out of it, even if you weren't there. Poor little tyke. he's really obsessed with you Kagome-chan," Kiki said, gazing lazily at the girl. Kagome bit her lip.  
  
"I know."  
  
"You're sort of leading him on." Kiki continued.  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Yeah, she's not! Kagome is just exploring her options, isn't she?" Keiko enthused.  
  
"Errr."  
  
"But that's like leading him on!" Kiki pointed out, fiercely.  
  
Kiki was the tomboy of the group. She was built like Superman, though slightly less with the bulging muscles, on account of she had been on practically every sports team she could get onto since she was very young. She was extreamly kind and supportive, even a bit like a mother hen, when she felt like it, but everyone and anyone knew not to try her patience. She had a temper that had been known to reduce her own teacher's to tears, and could even frighten Kagome and Keiki if she put her mind to it. Which she usually didn't. She really loved her friends. And even though she might not be prom queen material, like Keiko, she wasn't short on boyfriends either. Apparently some guys really found the whole sporty girl thing kinky. Though, as of late, she was boyfriend-less, claiming she had her eye on someone, and just wasn't ready to pursue it seriously. Kagome and Keiko were making bets on whether it was that cute guy who lived above her dorm, or her young English Professor.  
  
Kiki had short brown hair styled around her face, and usually two small pigtails on either side of her head. She was pretty cute, and even though her body was practically one big muscle, she still looked really good in a dress, and was known to be pretty 'girly' herself, when she got in the mood.  
  
Then there was Hojo. Ahhh Hojo. It was a widely known fact that Hojo had been in love with Kagome since kindergarten, and hadn't really gotten over his little 'crush', yet. He had all but stalked Kagome her entire life, but in a very friendly way. Honestly, he was a ditz who was so gullible Kagome had almost effortlessly been able to wriggle her way out of a serious relationship all of her life, since, sadly, Hojo wasn't really her type, no matter how many people thought they were destined to be. Since Hojo spent so much time hanging around the girls, he had eventually become one of the gang, Kagome thinking of him on strictly platonic levels, and Keiko and Kiki deciding they liked him well enough, so why the hell not. He hardly complained about their girlish habits, and didn't mind holding the bags when they went shopping. He was in!  
  
Of course, that had changed some when Hojo and Kagome had started seriously dating in senior year, Kagome finally caving in to his piteous attitude, maybe liking him back just a bit, and even going to prom with the kid. things had gotten a little weird though, and by freshman year of college, Kagome was practically ordering him to see new people. She had been the only woman in his life since he was like, six! And it didn't look as though things were ever going to work out, no matter how sweet a guy he was.  
  
Kagome made a gurgling sound into her hands at the thought of her messy relationship with Hojo who was, still, through it all, obviously head of heels for her, even though she had made it more than plain she didn't feel the same way about him. When would the nightmare end!?  
  
"Poor schmuck, I wonder when he'll get a clue," Keiko commented, lathering some strawberries she had claimed for her own with whipped cream.  
  
"When HELL freezes over," Kagome muttered between her fingers. Keiko snorted, and Kiki sighed, apparently exasperated.  
  
"Listen Kagome, if you're going to mope around the house and, ugh, STUDY, I think I'm going to leave. I've got places to be you know," she said, flipping a short lock of hair over her shoulder. Keiko, the roommate, stared up at her critically.  
  
"Yeah, like where? The only place you REALLY need to be is the library, and it doesn't look like you're itching to study for that math exam coming up, honestly," Keiko mentioned. She had Kiki's schedule committed to memory, since that's what happens when you live with someone, and wasn't just about to let her friend get away with convincing everyone she had somewhere more important to be.  
  
"Ugh, have I mentioned it's a real pain in the ass living with you?" Kiki asked, cover blown.  
  
"Only every day, buttercups."  
  
"Whatever, I really should study though, and it doesn't look like Kagome's in 'lotsoffuntime' mode. Maybe we should just leave," Kiki said, watching Kagome's head hit the counter again, drool forming in her mouth.  
  
".Hmm, good idea," Keiko agreed quickly.  
  
"Hope you get better Kagome, see you tomorrow. or something. we'll call you!" Kiki called, grabbing back up her windbreaker, as she headed for the door.  
  
"Yeah Kagome, drink lots of fluids! I don't know if that's going to help but you look thirsty, okay? See ya later," Keiki said, blowing a kiss on her way out. Kagome made a weak hand gesture that signaled she acknowledged they were leaving the building, and then waited a few more minutes before lifting her head back up, daring to see what they had done to her, moments ago, spotless kitchen.  
  
The strawberry carton was empty and rolling around on the floor, the bloody looking scalps of the strawberries themselves all that was left, scattering the counter. Speaking of the counter, it was literally smattered with a mix of sticky chocolate sauce, and messy whipped cream. God, they had been in her apartment for a total of 15 minutes, maybe, and already it was going to be a task cleaning up for them.  
  
After she had fully sponged down her counter, and even done some helpful sweeping, just because she was that kind of person, the now dead on her feet girl drifted over to her room, falling face first onto her bed, wincing as Buyo made an indignant yowling sound and scampered off.  
  
"Swybyo" Kagome said, her voice muffled by her pillow. Buyo meowed shortly, obviously still pissed that Kagome had fallen on him, in response. Minutes after that, Kagome was pleasantly snoring herself to sleep, thankful that at least, after everything else, tomorrow was Sunday, and vacation was right around the corner, so she could really relax. Ahhh.  
  
*  
  
A mere three hours later, Kagome was jerked away by the sound of someone rapping urgently on her window. Groggily lifting her head up, and wiping away some drool with the back of her hand, Kagome blinked until things came into focus. Judging by the window outside her room, it was pretty dark out, and she should really get in some studying if she wanted to be read for that stupid Ancient Japan exam. ugh. School. Oh. wait a second, also judging by the window, someone was crouching on her fire escape, rapping their knuckles on her window, and looking very impatient.  
  
Kagome made a distressed 'eep' ing sound, and toppled off her bed, frantically scrounging around for the baseball bat she kept under her bed for just such an occasion as the one she was experiencing. (Of course, more often than not she just wanted to use it to protect herself from those damn monster's under the bed, usually ending up very paranoid since the bat WAS under the bed, WITH the monsters! Now, on top of it all, they could bludgeon her to death, too!)  
  
Jerkily standing up, still disoriented, Kagome got a better look at who was sitting on her fire escape. oh. Wait, no, but down the bat, it was just Inuyasha. But wait! He was laughing! At her, and her clumsiness! Pick the bat back up!  
  
"What do you want? And what are you doing? Why can't you ring the doorbell like everyone else?" Kagome growled, wrenching open her window, and shivering slightly as the cool evening breeze hit her while she was only wearing her t-shirt and skirt. Inuyasha was still chuckling softly to himself, and Kagome was still holding her bat threateningly by her side.  
  
"Sorry, sleeping beauty, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to let any of your neighbors to see me creeping up to your room at night. People might think we're in love," Inuyasha said sarcastically, all the while pointing to his ears.  
  
"Oh. Right." Kagome said, realizing that it WOULD look weird for a half demon to be prowling her halls now. Hm. That had been surprisingly thoughtful of him. The last thing she needed was her nosy neighbors gossiping about her. They were mostly older people, anyway, who had nothing better to do than gossip about younger people, so it really was a good thing Inuyasha had used the 'back door', as much as she hoped he didn't make a habit of it. "What do you want, anyway?" she asked. As good as that nap had felt, she was hardly ready to confront people like Inuyasha, and all they stood for when it came to the demon community she had been recently introduced to.  
  
"There's been an attack on a demon run apartment building in downtown Tokyo, and we're 90% positive it's Naruku's work," Inuyasha said, his face slipping into business mode. Meaning his face got all stony, and his posture tense. "If you hurry, we might be able to make it before he splits, so get your act together." he said shortly.  
  
"But!-I-No!-I- . I haven't even agreed to any of this yet!" Kagome stuttered, now fully awake, and her heart threatening to go into overload and explode out of her chest. An attack? What was that supposed to mean? Lots of blood and guts splattered to a dark alley wall, with night predators lurking in the shadows? Inuyasha was shaking his head though, and Kagome was getting a bad feeling about all of this.  
  
"Sorry, but we need you there. You're purifying powers might be the only thing that can hold him off at this point, if he's already fed off his victims. Now get your coat, I've got my car waiting for us on the street, and I'm illegally parked, so made that double quick." Kagome's head was spinning, and she groaned again.  
  
Why her?  
  
"I don't want to go!" she protested. "I don't want to put my life at risk just now!" Inuyasha frowned deeply, and a growl started to reverberate in his throat, making him look a whole lot more dangerous then Kagome with her dinky bat. And sexy. He definitely looked sexy, crouching down there, his long silver hair floating in the wind, his muscular body easy to see with his black tee-shirt, even his gold, catlike eyes looking vaguely mysterious, and haunting. not to mention-  
  
"I'll just be getting my coat then," Kagome sighed, trudging out to retrieve her fleece, and wondering why she was letting herself be dragged into all this. Kaede had said no one could force her into anything here! But. looking at Inuyasha again, and hearing the distinct warning in his voice. she had a feeling he could.  
  
'It's going to be one of those nights.' She thought to herself, understanding she was probably acting very selfish, and also wanting everyone else to understand she didn't give a damn.  
  
*  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
I'm worried. Was the adding of Kagome's best friends annoying? I HATE original characters, and I have a feeling that you'll be seeing a lot more of those two girls. I just wanted Kagome to have some real friends, and a real life, outside this whole demon thing. You know, have connections, like Stephanie, in One For The Money. (Nooo, I'm NOT obsessed. Shut up.) (Has anyone else even READ that book? If you haven't you should. It's the shit.) Anyway, I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can, but don't hold your breath. Please. I need you to be alive to review the next chapter. And this one, for that matter. Pllleeassee review! I love you all, and have a nice day,  
  
Rio Grande 


	3. An Acceptance Of Sorts

Hey all, it's meee! I'm glad everyone who reviewed did indeed enjoy the last chapter, and didn't find the original friends too exasperating or irritating to read about. I also have to apologize for not making Sango the best friend, (Don't worry, she'll come up in this fic, just give it time. It's all gradual like.) or even Kagome's real friends in the series. I just didn't think they had enough personality, and I didn't really know them. so I gave them the boot. Tell you what; let's just pretend Keiko and Kiki really ARE those friends! Okay? Okay good.  
  
And to the Random Ranger Lover? Whooo! Kindred spirits!  
  
-One last note! I'm sorry about mixing up Kiki and Keiko during their debut last chapter. and if you didn't notice it, never mind. I didn't say anything. Also sorry about how I started off with Inu Yasha and later converted over to Inuyasha. (I think I'm sticking with Inuyasha. It's easier.)  
  
I don't own Inuyasha and enjoy.  
  
*  
  
Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Three: An Acceptance Of Sorts.  
  
*  
  
Kagome wasn't overly sure of JUST what she was doing, zooming down the highway at approximately eleven P.M in a black Lexus, next to an odd, yet admittedly sexy half-man wearing wonderfully tight jeans and a leather jacket, while she was sported a baggy t-shirt that said 'Main Street Coffee Shop, Delicious Coffee Hits The Spot', a fleece, and equally baggy sweat pants. She felt like a loser, (Looooser.) and with her mussed hair and currently darkly circled eyes, knew she looked like one too. Inuyasha looked so dangerous, so intimidating, so ready to go kick some monster butt! Where as she, well. let's just say the world of crime fighting had seen more formidable saviors. Putting it laymen's terms, she was about to get her ass whipped if she wasn't careful.  
  
What was she thinking? Why was she letting Inuyasha take her in the dead of the night to an active crime scene, where they were to apprehend a DEMON, before she had even confirmed to Detective Kaede that she was willing to work with the FBI? She was wonderfully befuddled, but was willing to go along with it all for the time being, seeing as how she would most likely pee in her pants if she tried to talk to Inuyasha and he got mad at her. Hey, was she the only one that noticed his claws were like, four inches long!?  
  
The couple drove in silence for about ten minutes, Inuyasha's eyes glued to the rode, Kagome's to defense spray he had sitting in the cup holder, that she was seriously considering steeling. Eventually, the girl mustered up the courage to ask a question that had really been bothering her.  
  
"Is that your NATURAL hair color?" she got out, unable to contain herself. Inuyasha seemed to miss a beat, mentally, for a second, before rolling his eyes and putting his attention back on the rode.  
  
"If you REALLY think it's vital that you know? Yes, yes it is," he sighed, looking vaguely furious. Hm. Touchy subject.  
  
"So it's a half demon thing then-?"  
  
"YES. If you need to talk, wench, could we please talk about something more relevant?" he asked, growling.  
  
"Hey! Let's get one thing straight Mister! I am NOBODY'S wench! And I'm doing you a favor here by coming out like this! You should have more respect," she stated, folding her arms. Inuyasha just barely held back a bark of laughter.  
  
"A favor? Right. Yeah, you're really going to prove to be a valuable asset when it comes to taking down the bad guys. You haven't even STARTED training your miko powers, so there's no way you could hope to take down someone like Naruku. Luckily, that's why I'M here," he huffed. Kagome felt her eye twitch. Where did he get off?!  
  
"Well if I'm so USELESS then, why did you drag me down here?!" she squawked, flailing her arms about. It wasn't as though she could HELP it, sheeee hadn't been the one who wanted to accept this crazy job!  
  
"Well, in case I do take him down, you'll need to hold on to the Shikon jewel so it doesn't become anymore defiled and destroy everything in its path," he explained, simply.  
  
"HA! So you DO need me! Admit it!" she exclaimed, exited at the prospect of proving the damn bastard utterly WRONG.  
  
"But that's only IF I get him, you're just back up!" he countered.  
  
"So you don't think you stand a chance against this guy, hu? Why so pessimistic? You weak or something?" she asked, slyly. She definitely already knew what buttons to press with this guy.  
  
"What?!" he cried, outraged. "No way, I could take him down in a second if he wasn't such a goddamn cheater and always did this disappearing act on us!"  
  
"But, if you DO catch this guy today, you WOULD need me! I am IMPORTANT! A total NECCESITY!" Kagome insisted, eyes alight with the heat of battle, and the joy of success. However, she felt an odd, ominous chill run down her spine when Inuyasha smirked confidently at her comment.  
  
"That's right," he said, quietly. "So now do you see why you have to join the team? You just made up a very convincing argument for yourself of why you should take up the offer, of why you have to help."  
  
"Aghhh!" Kagome cried, putting her head in her hands, realizing how deep a hole she had dug herself, while Inuyasha chuckled evilly next to her. "You tricked me you freak!"  
  
"Hey, I'm not ALL muscle," he joked.  
  
"Yeah, some of it's hot air, too," she reminded him, helpfully.  
  
"Coming from you, the super ditz?" he shot back.  
  
"You're not really doing a swell job of convincing me to join your little organization, you know? So far all I've developed is a strong dislike for you, personally, and have no interest whatsoever in being part of any job that makes me work closely alongside someone as rude as you," she said, her face red with fury, and basic embarrassment at being fooled so badly.  
  
"I think you're just sore from before, and I'm going to take that into account so that I don't throw you out of the car right now," Inuyasha said flatly, in such a dead serious tone that Kagome snapped her mouth shut rather quickly, and went back to staring at the defense spray.  
  
She wanted that pepper spray. Now, more than ever.  
  
"Ahh. Here we are." Inuyasha commented darkly after a moment, spotting the illuminated skyline that they were coming upon, everything glowing an eerie, red color. As he turned a corner, Kagome soon figured out WHY everything was red.  
  
"Oh my God, that building is on fire! Should we call 911?" she gasped, going back to her skills she had learned in first grade. When in a fire: Call 911. That doesn't work? Stop. Drop. Roll like you've never rolled before. That doesn't work? Sucks.  
  
Actually, Kagome really did have a level head in emergencies, and thus was rather disgruntled when Inuyasha began to laugh at her AGAIN, as he pulled into the building parking lot, all but flying out of the car.  
  
"What, you want to kill those innocent fire fighters? A demon started this fire, Kagome, and it's OUR job to put it out. We're the justice enforcers now." he commented, storming towards the building, Kagome meekly following after him. If she hadn't been intimidated before, she was intimidated now.  
  
Entering the totally average looking apartment, which Kagome had just remembered was run by demons, both people were attacked by a storm of smoke, Kagome gasping as she took in a suffocating lungful. Inuyasha, who, because he was a wonderfully gifted hanyou, was having no problems with the smoke, and looked vaguely sympathetic as Kagome began to cough and hack into her hand. He dug through his coat, and pulled out a cloth, the best he could do, for Kagome to put over her mouth.  
  
"Thanks," she wheezed, eyes watering. Wow. This place was sure burning.  
  
"No problem. Oh. you brought the pepper spray, good. I brought that for you. Figured you didn't know how to shoot a gun, and it's not a good idea to be TOTALLY unprepared." He commented nonchalantly. Kagome on the other hand, still following the white haired man as they both zipped up the stairs, was quite taken a back. Why, that had been, almost very thoughtful of him. Just like with the neighbors. Just like with the handkerchief just now. Hmmm. this Inuyasha character definitely needed some more investigating. Maybe there was more to his rough personality than meets the eye? "Would you hurry up, wench? We'll never make it to the roof at this rate!" 'Kay, scratch that. What was with this guy? He had to be the moodiest person she had ever met!  
  
"You're sure they're on the roof?" Kagome panted, deciding she'd scream if they made it all the way there just to find it was empty. She was already almost keeling over with exhaustion, the smoke doing nothing for her out of shape body. She was a sprinter. not a long distance runner, and she hadn't practiced with her old track team in a while. she was really starting to wish she had.  
  
"I can smell them," Inuyasha informed her.  
  
".Riight," she sighed, shaking her head.  
  
They had finally reached the top floor, standing outside the large brown door that would lead to the roof, Kagome nearly crawling along, and Inuyasha looked distantly bored, when the hanyou's ears started twitching sporadically, eyes narrowing.  
  
"They're definitely all on the roof. Naruku and some victimized demons I'd assume. But there's someone else, another demon, wounded. just below this floor." He quickly turned to Kagome. "Go and find that injured demon, you'll be of no help to me out there anyway," he said. Kagome bit her lip, nervously.  
  
"You're sure it'll be okay for me? All alone? The demon won't attack me?" she asked, feeling very naïve and stupid.  
  
"Kagome, not all demons are real monsters. These people are good, law abiding demons, now go! We're wasting precious time!" he yelled, as he opened the door and dashed out onto the roof, leaving Kagome all by her lonesome. She stood alone for a second, shifting from foot to foot, before letting out a long sigh and trotting back down the stairs, still gasping for breath, and deciding to just do as Inuyasha said. If she got killed, well, she'd blame HIM.  
  
"Hello!" she called, stumbling around the second to top floor, and hoping desperately that the wounded demon she was supposed to find would just jump out of a room, hardly injured and smiling, and let her take the poor dear somewhere totally safe while Inuyasha did his thing. Typically, no such occurrence took place, and Kagome was starting to get worried. What if that vulnerable demon was burning to death in one of these apartments, and it was all her fault because she couldn't find them!?  
  
'Calm down Kagome, breath. Think. You just got some new, kick ass miko powers right? Just concentrate, and maybe they'll lead you to that demon in distress!' Closing her eyes and concentrating on her heart rate, hoping it was slow down eventually, Kagome focused all of her senses on finding that demon, imagining a really pretty, helpless one, suffocating somewhere. She found herself getting all teary eyed in spite of her own reassurances that the mental picture wasn't actually REAL- when she felt it. A little twang off to the side, a little tug that led her directly to apartment 8B. a little 6th sense if you will, screaming at her, telling her that yes, this was it. She had found the demon.  
  
"Well, I didn't actually expect that to WORK." She admitted, trying to force the door open after finding, to her immense horror, that it was locked. No! Open you stupid, stupid door! She had someone to save! Why couldn't it understand?  
  
"Yah!" she cried dramatically, throwing herself at the door as she had seen many a super hero in movies do, only to bounce forcefully off the door, and land flat on her butt. Humph. Stupid movies. She coughed once more, distantly wondering how much longer she could stand in the suffocating apartment. The smoke was really starting to become a problem.  
  
"Please, please, open. There's someone DYING in there," she tried, reasoning with the door. "Meaning, if you don't let me in. they'll DIE," she repeated, wishing she had her credit cards on her person. Maybe she could use that nifty trick where you slide it in-between the door and the wall, and unlock it. "Please!"  
  
She pushed her shoulder up hard against the door a few more times, biting her lip, before giving up and resting her head against its hot frame, defeated. She felt tears well up in her eyes, completely frustrated. Dammit. She wasn't even an official part of the Demon FBI, and she already felt as though she had failed them. Failed the Inuyasha and Detective Kaede. Failed that poor, helpless demon on the other side of the door. Failed her math test in eighth grade. Well, that as another story. but she was still very upset, openly sobbing as she pounded futilely on the idiotically solid door with weak arms. And then, it was as if something in her heart snapped, and a dam broke inside her. She froze, eyes wide and still watery, as power began to run through her veins and made her much more aware of her new, mystical abilities then she had been before.  
  
'Is this what I can do? Is this what Miroku and Kaede did to me?' she wondered, letting it all flow, not even caring that she had absolutely no control over what was happening. It was all good!  
  
Next thing she knew, she was on her hands and knees, inside of the apartment, the lock of the door melted away, and still sparking with pink miko energy. Kagome didn't notice any of that though. All she saw, or rather, sensed, was the weak presence of a hurt demon at the back of the apartment. Scrambling to her feet, she dashed towards the demon's presence, throwing herself into what looked like a child's play room, head snapping around as she searched for any large, bloody demons, just lying around.  
  
"Unghh." she heard a small voice sigh from a particularly large pile of toys. Kagome's eyes honed in on it, and she felt the unmistakable presence of a beating heart in that pile of toys. Hurling herself on it, she found herself tossing Barbie dolls and teddy bears in all directions as she tried to find the youkai.  
  
"Oh, shit!" she gasped, as she almost threw the demon itself in the pile of discarded toys. "It's so small!"  
  
Indeed, the wounded demon looked to be nothing but a baby, or a little child, in any case. Probably when standing the thing reached her knees, and its face was unmistakably cute. It had messy red hair, and a poofy tail.  
  
"Hey. hey there, wake up," she whispered, shaking the little demon's shoulder, thankful that there didn't seem to be any open wounds or the like visible on its form. However, she was soon becoming increasingly worried as the demon didn't oblige to her requests, and stayed unconscious. "Wake up!" she commanded, a little harsher this time. Still nothing. "No, no, don't do this to me!" she cried, holding the demon close to her now, throat completely closing up. Damn, Inuyasha hadn't said anything about this being a BABY demon! She couldn't let it die!  
  
And there it was again. That surge of power. That eerily calming feeling of magic and something ancient and secret, creeping through her. Well, it had sure worked out for her last time, so why not again? Kagome buried her tear stained face in the tiny demon's shoulder, praying for its health.  
  
".Momma?" Fuck it, she was good! "Daddy?"  
  
"No sweetie, I'm not your Mommy. I'm Kagome, and you were hurt, so I saved you. You'll be all right," she soothed in her most maternal voice, brushing the baby demon's hair back. And the little guy seemed ready to melt into her comforting embrace, too. before its head snapped up and its clear blue, cat like eyes went wide.  
  
"Oh no, Momma, Daddy! He got them!" he cried, jumping out of Kagome's hug with surprising agility for someone of his size, or lack there of, and already rushing for the door.  
  
"Wait! Come back! Who got them!? Stop! Wait up!" she yelled frantically, getting to her feet with wobbly legs. Apparently, this miko thing was a lot more draining than Kaede had first made it sound. However, because she was just such a good person, she diligently followed that little demon, cursing its name under her breath the whole way up to the roof.  
  
'Oh no, not the roof. I don't really want to get tangled up in whatever it is Inuyasha's up to!'  
  
"Kid! STOP!" she ordered. However the youkai didn't even spare her a glance as it burst through the roof's door, crying out for its parents, pathetically. "Ouch!" Kagome hissed, as she too fell through the door, loosing her balance, and landing on her knees. Snapping her head up, Kagome got a good, long look around the roof, ignoring her stinging and skinned knees, as she realized JUST what she was looking at. Jesus, it was like the apocalypse!  
  
A few yards in front of her, stood Inuyasha. Okay. Not so disturbing. Except for the fact that those four inch nails of his were dripping with blood, his fangs were bared in a way that made Kagome shiver, even though he wasn't actually looking at her, and he had a long, deep gash down his back, that would probably scar. Of course, if he were human it would scar, at least.  
  
Kagome let her gaze travel upwards, and she spotted what Inuyasha was howling at. Erk.  
  
A man, of sorts, was sailing above everyone on the roof, wearing what looked to be a baboon pelt, a tangled nest of black hair flying behind him, and his eyes wide, yet infinitely blank. Kagome resisted the urge to gag as she felt waves of negative energy roll off him so strongly it made her head spin. He wasn't ugly, exactly, but there was definitely something wrong with his face, that made it hard to glance at. So Kagome stopped, and let her eyes wander down to something equally as disturbing.  
  
There, in the corner, was what looked like two, steaming, giant foxes, curled up together, and very, very dead.  
  
And that baby demon with the red hair was running right towards them.  
  
"Momma! Daddy!" he was crying. Oh, for fuck's sake! Honestly! That was just too perfect!  
  
"What?" Inuyasha growled, spotting the little demon. Kagome winced as his head whipped around to stare at her, next. "Kagome? What's going on here? Who is that kid?"  
  
"He's that injured demon you sent me to get. Thanks for mentioning he's like, two years old!!" she called, as that evil looking demon who had been flying above them landed on the other corner of the roof. He had a sadistic and cold smirk on his face, that made the bile rise to Kagome's throat.  
  
"Well Inuyasha, you didn't tell me you had a new miko bitch hanging around you," the thing hissed, gleefully. Kagome wanted to know what it meant by 'new', (What the hell happened to the last one!?) but didn't feel as though this were a good time to bring the subject up.  
  
"Leave her alone, Naruku," Inuyasha boomed threateningly.  
  
"But she's so untrained. just look at her. nearly frothing with untamed powers. I could just. eat her up," Naruku hissed softly.  
  
"Bastard!" Inuyasha howled, leaping forward with arms extended. Kagome felt a slight heat rise to her cheeks because of the fact that Inuyasha was getting all defensive over her. However, that thought was lost to her as Naruku leaped over Inuyasha and slashed him quickly down the back before Kagome had time to blink, something that looked like thick guck beginning to eat away at the edges of Inuyasha's ripped t-shirt. The hanyou gasped softly with pain, and dropped to a roll on the roof. Kagome screeched with terror, hiding her face, and checking to make sure she still had the pepper spray in her pocket. Inuyasha however, didn't even stop to check his deep wound, snapping out of the roll and grabbing something from inside his jacket.  
  
It was a sword!  
  
'Where was he keeping that thing?!' Kagome wondered as Inuyasha leapt at Naruku with what looked like the world's oldest sword EVER. Thin and rusty, Kagome seriously doubted whether or not this sword could effectively slice through butter. But. it was better than nothing, she supposed. Naruku seemed a bit wary about it, in any case, dancing backwards as Inuyasha came at him with a series of wild slashes.  
  
"Silly hanyou! You still don't know how to properly wield that thing! If you did, you wouldn't be wasting time with badly timed jabs!" Naruku hissed, leaping, once more, into the air. Kagome was, personally, impressed with the sheer amount of height the demon was able to obtain, but wisely kept the observation to herself. "I leave you now, worthless half breed! I've done what I came here to do!" Naruku cried triumphantly into the night, as he flew off into the distance, his white baboon pelt quickly disappearing into the darkness.  
  
"Come back here you bastard! You coward!" Inuyasha screamed, skidding to the edge of the roof, and shaking his fist at Naruku until the demon's form was completely gone from sight. Only then did he let his shoulders sag in defeat, and his sword drop to the ground. "Dammit." He cursed softly, ears flattening against his head, and Kagome's heart suddenly swelling with compassion as Inuyasha suddenly looked all too much the part of the whipped puppy. Awww.  
  
"I-Inuyasha," she gasped softly, trotting up to him, and still a little shocked. "Are you all right?" she asked, glancing at his back, which still had that gaping wound in it, steadily dripping with blood. Inuyasha didn't appear to notice.  
  
"All right? Of course I'm not all right!" he growled in irritation, brushing some long white locks from his eyes. "I just let the only most wanted demon criminal in the world slip through my fingers-yet again- and also let him burn an apartment to the ground, not to mention murder two innocent kistune!"  
  
"Oh. it can't be as bad as all that."  
  
"But it IS!"  
  
"Okay!. well um, then, I'm sorry. But moping about it won't do you any good! If you stand here and bleed to death you'll NEVER be able to catch Naruku, and then who will avenge all of the innocent demon's deaths?" Kagome asked, surprising even herself with her sudden burst of courage and bluntness. Inuyasha's eyes widened, but he stayed silent. "Now turn around so I can get a good look at that gash across your back, I'm pretty good at basic first aid, though I don't know how far that can take us with this injury. What does that guy have, anyway, fingernails of steel?"  
  
"I don't need it," Inuyasha sighed, waving the girl off. Wow, for a second there, he had actually been LISTENING to her!  
  
"The hell you don't! Look at you, you're about to keel over from blood loss!" Kagome snapped, trying to spin Inuyasha around, and failing terribly each time.  
  
"Woman, get your hands off me! You don't understand, I can heal myself just fine!" Inuyasha shot back, backpedaling away from the girl, those frown lines returning to his face once more, his morose and beaten attitude gone with the wind. In some ways, Kagome felt as though she had done some good. An angry and pissed off Inuyasha was much easier to deal with than a self-hating and sad one.  
  
"NO! Let me just SEE it!"  
  
"Get AWAY!"  
  
"I don't want it to get infected! I can help!"  
  
"You'll just make it worse!"  
  
"That's bull!"  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about!"  
  
"YOU don't know what YOU'RE talking about! Now turn-!"  
  
"Drop it!"  
  
"I wont! I'll-!"  
  
"Mamaaaa.." The FBI agent and the college girl stopped in mid-retort, heads quickly swiveling to the side, where they both spotted the baby demon. crying over the corpses of what Kagome assumed were his demon parents. Oh. "Papaaa." It continued, tears streaming down its face as it tried to bury itself in the deceased kitsune's fur. Kagome felt her heart wrench uncomfortably in her chest, and she bit down hard on her lip. Glancing up at Inuyasha, she sighed as she found nothing but a sort of uncomfortable, lost expression on his features. Men.  
  
Carefully, Kagome padded towards the little demon, Inuyasha watching her carefully, but never coming forward. This obviously wasn't his cup of tea, and Kagome had this nagging feeling she was far better with kids than he was.  
  
"Hey." she whispered softly, putting a hand on the demon's shoulder, her own eyes shimmering with just barely repressed tears. This scene felt like something out of one of those really touching movies. like Annie. except that usually the parents were human, and the orphan child didn't have a tail.  
  
"Maammaaa... Papaaa." the child continued to sob. Kagome could hardly blame him, she didn't know what would happen if she found BOTH her parents dead on her own roof. In a desperate attempt to get the child's mind off the tragedy before him, she swept him up in another hug, hoping that her own natural powers of comforting would help this kid where her newly awakened powers could not. "He killed them," the youkai child sniffed taking fists of Kagome's t-shirt and gripping onto them as he cried into Kagome's embrace. Kagome's features hardened. That bastard. That demon. He would pay. How dare he do this to helpless and innocent things like this demon!? Where did he get off?  
  
"I know. and it was wrong. he was a bad man. but don't worry. we'll catch him. don't worry." Kagome could almost feel Inuyasha flinch from behind her, and mentally sighed. Now she was starting to understand why the half demon felt so guilty about letting that criminal go. because now, she did too.  
  
"I-I-I want them back!" the demon hiccupped.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Kagome whispered comfortingly, her voice just as remorseful as the child's own, as she lulled him into a deep slumber, where he experienced nothing but sweet dreams as he breathed in the comforting smell of Kagome's sympathy and love, knowing that she would surely protect him as his parents once had.  
  
Inuyasha stared at the young miko girl with something akin to surprise. He could feel mystical energy radiating off her in swirls of power, and knew that she was already unconsciously using her surplus of power to help the little demon in need. And without even knowing how to effectively activate them yet? That was truly impressive, and probably something Kaede should know about.  
  
"Kagome." he started, hesitantly walking over to the raven-haired girl, still crouched down on the ground hugging the little kitsune to her chest as though he would break if she let him go. Kagome glanced up at Inuyasha, who was only mildly troubled to find that her pretty, shining gray eyes were red rimmed and already puffy. This sort of thing could be very startling to someone not experienced with the murderer Naruku. Heck, he was, and it STILL startled him. "We should go, the EMT guys and the whole Scooby gang will be here soon to help collect evidence and help with the bodies. They'll ask a lot of questions, and I figure maybe we should just spare this guy the experience." he said softly, so as not to wake the calm looking, slumbering demon now. Kagome continued to stare at Inuyasha, unnerving the half demon a bit.  
  
"Inuyasha?" she asked quickly, voice no longer wavering.  
  
"Um.?"  
  
"I want to help you. I agree to it. I'll join you and your. cult, or whatever. All I want is to see this guy behind bars," she said firmly, a passion in her voice Inuyasha couldn't help but respect.  
  
"Or disgustingly mutilated and shredded to iddy biddy pieces?" Inuyasha offered, voicing his own secret desire.  
  
".Sure. Whatever. The point is, I'm in. And I'll do whatever it takes to get this demon," she said, standing up with the demon still in her arms, eyes hard and steely, showing an inner strength that had probably always been there to begin with.  
  
Inuyasha mentally beamed. This should prove worthwhile. *  
  
"-And this is the FBI's top secret, undisclosed, totally hush-hush.- coffee machine!" Miroku said proudly, revealing to Kagome an admittedly GOOD-looking coffee machine. (Stainless steel!) "Some of us pooled together our money to buy it, and only very few important agents have access to it," Miroku confessed in a furtive tone to Kagome. The girl bit her lip, averting her gaze carefully.  
  
"Do I?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
"Yesss!" Okay, so she had forgiven Miroku for his previously lecherous ways. Hands slip! Right? And he was proving to be a really cool guy, showing her around the building and teaching her all of the finer points of being part of the demon FBI. She even had her own office! It wasn't particularly large or anything, but since she was being put through so much hassle to work on such a dangerous case, it was slightly larger than others, considering she wasn't a REAL agent or anything. When this case was done, so was she.  
  
Speaking of dangerous, Inuyasha, after being especially thoughtful and careful with her after the incident on the demon apartment's roof, had reverted back to his cold, careless ways, making Kagome feel a bit distraught and confused. She had thought she had broken the ice with this guy already, and there he was, moping around the office again, apparently being far too busy to help Kagome get used to being a temporary agent. Jerk. Why did he do this to her? One moment she completely thought he was this brave, cool guy, and the next he was the ass-hole with something large and spiky stuck up his butt!  
  
After the couple had gotten back to headquarters with the little demon, revealed to them as Shippou Kit, they had met up with Kaede who had been in the process of heading over to the crime scene herself. She had taken Shippou into her custody, promising he would be treated well, and that, yes, Kagome would be notified when his fate was decided. Most likely he would be ultimately living with some relatives, was how things looked. Kagome had let go of Shippou with some degree of hesitance, she had grown sort of affectionate to the traumatized little guy, and wanted nothing more than to help him get through the rough road ahead.  
  
"Anyway, it's not much, but it's all we've got. Now. I realize Kaede's already run by you the strict rules for extreme secrecy in this joint, but I'd like to add my own little bit to it. I'm not kidding Kagome, no matter what, don't tell anyone what you really are doing here," Miroku said seriously, stopping in the middle of the hall to stare at Kagome pointedly. The girl cocked her head.  
  
"Why?" she asked, even though she really had no plans of telling anyone what she was really doing at the FBI. They'd never believe her anyway!  
  
"Well, besides thinking you're crazy, they might get tangled up with things that happen here. in which case we would have to give them the whole speech and totally alter their lives. You're example is an unfortunate case we could not avoid, since true mikos are so hard to come by now a day. but would you want your same fate for your family or friends?" Miroku asked, raising a delicate eyebrow. Kagome only hesitated a second.  
  
"No,"  
  
"Good! Then what are you going to tell everyone?."  
  
"I've got a new job as a secretary for Detective Kaede at the FBI in order to help pay for all my supplies for college this year," Kagome recited dutifully, having made up that clever little lie with Kaede herself earlier. She surmised it would go over pretty well with just about everyone she knew. She WAS pretty poor, and notoriously odd. Sigh.  
  
"Spectacular!" Miroku congratulated, clapping. Suddenly, he glanced down at his watch. "Oh! It's almost time for you to see Kaede. She had said she wanted to tell you something.?"  
  
"Yeah, stuff about Shippou and this whole Miko deal," Kagome sighed, marching towards Kaede's with Miroku right behind her.  
  
"Oh, yes," the agent chuckled. "I have a schedule for your meditative lessons all worked out. the key to being the perfect miko is having a serene and peaceful soul, you know," he said, winking.  
  
"I suppose you've achieved this level of supreme peacefulness, then?" Kagome asked quickly, smiling as she reached Kaede's door, and Miroku continued his own walk back to his office.  
  
"Oh, but of course!" the agent/priest commented flippantly, leaving Kagome giggling lightly. Ohhh- wait? Giggling? No. Stop!  
  
Kagome was just about to knock on Kaede's door, when someone pulled it open before her, causing her to take a surprised step back.  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha," she said, in as nonchalant and casual a voice as she could muster, pretending to be very interested in a stray piece of lint on her black sweater. Oh yeah, she was playing it cool.  
  
"Hn," he replied curtly, exiting Kaede's office. Kagome raised an eyebrow, unable to contain herself.  
  
"What were you doing in there?"  
  
"Kagome, Kaede's my boss, I sort of HAVE to see her from time to time," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, and looking slightly disgruntled. With that little jab successfully made, he spun on his heel, and was about to stalk off down the hall, when Kagome retaliated with a little jab of her own.  
  
"Umm. excuse me? What are you doing?" Inuyasha inquired gravely as Kagome began to jab and pinch him furiously in the back.  
  
"Um!" Kagome blurted pinching done, and an odd expression on her face. When nothing more was uttered from the shorter girl, Inuyasha raised his eyes heavenwards, made a crude comment about mortal agents, and disappeared down the hall. Kagome stared after him with wide eyes. she had just pinched him pretty hard, in her opinion, in the exact spot Naruku had, not even twenty-four hours ago, slashed him practically down to the bone! Had he really. just healed? Just like that? Because he was a half demon? She hadn't even felt a bandage!  
  
"What a weirdo," Kagome muttered darkly, whishing into Kaede's office without another look back at the silver haired brute, who, putting his astounding healing powers aside, was being really lame and mean that day.  
  
Kaede's office was a bit different than Kagome had first assumed it would be. although, come to think of it, she couldn't quite remember what she had thought it would look like in the first place. Just. maybe not so smothered with the pictures of ancient Japan, with pricey looking, age old scrolls tacked up all over, along with a various collection of bows. Large oak bookshelves surrounded the office, and in the middle was Kaede's big desk, stacked with papers and letters, facing away from a large window with a picturesque view of Tokyo in the background. Sort of homey, in an antique- ish way.  
  
"Ahh, Kagome!" Kaede said happily, as the girl carefully padded into the office.  
  
"You wanted to see me?" Kagome asked, sliding into a seat in front of Kaede's desk.  
  
"Yes, it's about last night. and Naruku," Kaede admitted, folding her hands carefully, and looking up at the twenty-year old.  
  
"Ergh," Kagome made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. Even with the tiny amount of sleep she had gotten in the past day, the somewhat poignant image of that ruthless criminal had still managed to haunt her briefly experienced dreams.  
  
"Quite," Kaede agreed, solemnly. "Now, Inuyasha has already typed up a report for me on everything that transpired, however I would be much obliged if I could have a similar report from you. It would be interesting to see how things went from your point of view, seeing as how you have all of those new miko powers in you,"  
  
"Sure thing," Kagome agreed with a sigh. Great. More homework. She was already showing signs of being lax in her college courses, but now she had to actually do paper work for the FBI. Fab.  
  
"Kagome how WAS your run in with Naruku? Anything happen that you would find worth mentioning?" Kaede questioned, generally interested.  
  
"You mean, besides the burning and the inured baby demon and the dead kitsunes and Inuyasha fighting and getting slashed down the back by a weirdo wearing a baboon pelt?"  
  
"Yes. Besides."  
  
"Hmm. well, come to think of it, some odd things did happen," Kagome admitted, jogging through her memory of the previous night, and finding it to be rather hectic and action packed. "Like when I was trying to knock down the door to Shippou's apartment? I tried using these new powers you've given me to get in when I found it locked. and it worked! I just thought about it hard enough, and bam! The door was down and I was inside!" Kagome said, as if for the first time understanding how truly odd that was.  
  
"You just thought about it?" Kaede asked, looking distantly astounded.  
  
"Yeah! And then, I kept getting these weird vibes from everyone I ran into, like I could sort of look into their soul and tell what they were thinking. or something. It's still happening, I feel as though I'm ten billion times more aware of what people are doing and how their auras feel. It's pretty odd," the young miko acknowledged. "And it made seeing Naruku terrifying. Do you know how TWISTED that guy is?"  
  
"All too well," Kaede said, sagely.  
  
"Well, it was pretty odd, and I'm not really positive as to WHY I can feel everything so acutely," Kagome said, eyebrows knitting together.  
  
"It's all just part of being a miko, and acquiring a. how shall I put this? Sixth sense, so to speak. You will find yourself to be increasingly more aware of spiritual things around you, but hopefully with the guidance of Miroku and I, you will be able to control that feeling to some extent. Though I must admit Kagome, the sheer amount of power you're showing at such an early stage is something to marvel at. Inuyasha had told me you were showing signs of true power, but I had not thought he had been so right," Kaede admitted.  
  
'So THAT'S what he was doing in here. telling Kaede about me! Weird.' Kagome thought to herself. Out loud, she said:  
  
"Really? You mean, I'm advancing faster than you guys thought I would?" she asked in wonder. That had to be a first for her!  
  
"Yes, you are. But not to worry, this just means I'll have to start training you sooner! How does tomorrow morning sound?"  
  
"Ughhh." Kagome groaned. It was Monday already, and she had no more classes for the day, but Tuesdays were busier for her, and she could tell that from here on out her schedule was going to be something close to mental.  
  
"Glad to hear you're free. Just stop by the offices at around nine o'clock, and I'll be here. Always am." Kaede said, mumbling the last part a bit remorsefully, to Kagome's ears. "Really though Kagome, this is a very good sign, and it's looking as though the FBI is going to be very lucky to have you on our side. Why, if things keep progressing like this, you could be the next Kik- oops!" Kaede said, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth.  
  
"The next Kik-what?" Kagome questioned tartly, as Kaede tried to look as though she hadn't just almost told Kagome something very secret. "Kik- what?!"  
  
"Um. It's nothing. I shouldn't be tell you. It would be wrong," Kaede said halfheartedly, as though she really DID want to tell Kagome everything.  
  
"Awww. come on!" Kagome, who loved secrets, ever since she had been in grade school, pleaded, doing her good pouty expression.  
  
"I really couldn't."  
  
"Pleaaaassee?"  
  
"Weeell- okay!" Kaede said, quickly caving in, and not looking overly worried about it. Her old withered face got a bit reminiscent as she spoke. "Kikyo was our last miko here at the FBI, and Inuyasha's old partner," Kaede confessed, whispering across the table to Kagome, lest Inuyasha hear their conversation from halfway across the building with those big dog-ears of his.  
  
"Really?" Kagome said, distinctly remembering Naruku saying something about Inuyasha's old miko on the roof. it hadn't made sense then, but things were starting to piece together. "What happened to her?" she wanted to know, eager to learn of Inuyasha's track record when it came to partners, if she was going to be his next one.  
  
"She got involved in some pretty serious dark magic stuff, fell into a deep depression, snapped at Inuyasha and. moved to America." Kaede said, whispering the last part in a substantially darker voice.  
  
"Erk!" Not what she wanted to hear! NOT what she wanted to hear!  
  
"I know." Kaede said, nodding sadly. "A terrible fate." (A/N- I live in America! Yes I do!)  
  
"Th-this doesn't happen to most of his partners. right?"  
  
"Why no, Inuyasha's never had any others! Oh-well, except that one kid. but, we're not permitted to talk about what happened to him anymore. It was bad press,"  
  
"Erk!"  
  
Great! So Inuyasha had a history of offing his partners! JUST was she needed!  
  
"What sort of magic did Kikyo get herself involved with, anyway?" Kagome asked, wanting to know just what happened to this woman, so she didn't make the same mistakes. At this however, Kaede began to look notably older, and she let out a long, tired breath while leaning farther back in her cushioned seat.  
  
"We're not really sure, actually. It was pretty potent stuff though, since she's the best miko we've had in Japan for many years! And the darkness just ate away at her like a disease she couldn't' rid herself of, no matter how hard she fought. I believe. I know she and Inuyasha might have been more than just partners for a short time, and the whole situation didn't sit well with him," Kagome blushed as she remembered all of the times she had thought about Inuyasha in more than just a strictly business way as well. But, she would never!. would she? Apparently Inuyasha saw nothing against such relationships in the work place.  
  
"Did she die?"  
  
"No, I told you she moved to America, remember?"  
  
"Same difference,"  
  
"Well, we haven't heard from her in ages, so she MIGHT be dead, if she wasn't able to find a good, solid cure for her sickness. I wouldn't bring any of this up with Inuyasha though, he REALLY doesn't like talking about it. He and Kikyo did not part on good terms, to say the least," Kaede sighed.  
  
"Had they been working together long?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Only about a year I'd say, but they were a good team," Kaede said, nodding her head solemnly. "Kikyo was a big loss to us, since she was so good at what she did, and that's why were all so thrilled to have you here with us. Working without a miko has been hell for some time,"  
  
"Why didn't you just find another one then? Are we really so rare?" Kagome asked, feeling a wee bit special.  
  
"Extremely! In fact, all of the remaining mikos in the world are somehow related at this point. There just aren't that many miko families left. We can really see it with you and Kikyo since you both look a lot alike." Kaede said, trailing off, and digging through a cabinet in her desk, as Kagome stared off into the distance with a slightly upset expression on her face.  
  
'I look like Inuyasha's ex? This doesn't bode well. Especially if I'm going to be working with him on such a serious case.'  
  
"Ah! Here we go, a picture," Kaede said triumphantly, pulling out of her drawer a picture of a very pretty woman, with long, straight raven hair, and perfect porcelain features, though a bit colder. She wore the typical miko garb of the olden days, and stood in front of a much more spectacular looking temple than Kagome's own Higurashi shrine. She gave off an air of mystique.  
  
"Are you kidding? I look NOTHING like her!" Kagome scoffed. That woman was way to beautiful to be related to her! She had a long history of having very unattractive relatives, and no way could Kikyo and she be linked in any way.  
  
Did we mention that Kagome was STILL in denial over her appearance?  
  
"Can you not see the resemblance?" Kaede asked critically.  
  
"Nope!"  
  
"That's odd, it's so blatant!. But in any case, remember not to bring her up with Inuyasha. He's very . touchy about it." Kaede reminded the girl seriously. Kagome took these words to heart, as she was sure Kaede was sugar coating it when she said 'touchy'. Most likely, the case was- 'psychotically angered by it', and Kagome had no plans to get on Inuyasha's REAL bad side just then. "Oh, Kagome, one last thing before I release you," Kaede said quickly, swiftly putting the old picture away. "I wanted to talk about Shippou."  
  
"Oh, yes! How is he?" Kagome asked, all thoughts of Inuyasha, Kikyo, and their messy relationship gone with the wind, as she leaned forward in her seat, intent on hearing about the kitsune's condition.  
  
"Well, as it would seem. he has no living relatives left, and thus no family to stay with. Even temporarily," the old woman admitted somberly.  
  
"That's terrible!" Kagome gasped.  
  
"What's more, demon authorities are refusing to put him in a foster home just now, because his parents were targeted by Naruku, and that demon could still be after Shippou as well now," Kaede continued. Kagome bit her lip, eyes sympathetic. How awful for Shippou! ". So we were wondering if he could stay with you,"  
  
".EXCUSE me!?" Kagome blurted, nearly falling off her chair. Had she heard Kaede right? "But I thought you just said Naruku might still be after him!?"  
  
"He might!" Kaede agreed.  
  
"But. then. I." Kagome said, floundering around, flabbergasted. This wasn't happening! Sure, she liked the little tyke, but living with him was getting a bit extreme about it!  
  
"Kagome, if your miko powers are truly as amazing as I think they might be, you could very well be just the sort of protection Shippou might need in the near future! And I remember how worried and affectionate you were towards him last night. You love the little guy! How bad could having him living in your house be?" Kaede said, trying to pose the question so that it DIDN'T sound so bad, when really, it could be disastrous for Kagome. Already she was juggling college and an FBI job, but a child now too? It could possibly prove to be too much. What would she do when she went out? Leave him their alone? Kagome voiced these worries to Kaede.  
  
"I have college too, you know, I can't be at home all day looking after Shippou! ESPECIALLY with this new demon FBI gig," Kagome pointed out fiercely.  
  
"Oh, it's all right, he could stay at the offices most of the day, since demon children are usually far more well behaved than human ones. He'd just sleep at home with you," Kaede explained, her voice comforting as well as extremely convincing. Kagome could already feel her defenses crumbling around her, as pictures of the impossibly cute baby demon floated through her head. Well, maybe it wouldn't be THAT bad.  
  
"I don't know. my apartment isn't very big."  
  
"I HIGHLY doubt he'll take up much room,"  
  
"And I'm a terrible mother figure, which is what he really needs!"  
  
"Not from what I saw. You were fantastic with him!"  
  
"Not to mention I'll have NO night life now,"  
  
"Meaning you had one before?"  
  
"Okay, low blow," Kagome huffed, folding her arms. "But. all right. I'll do it. I guess. If it's what's best for this guy, how can I refuse?"  
  
"That's the spirit!" Kaede cheered, knowing Kagome was going to do it from the start. The girl was just that kind of person. "He'll be arriving at your house to get settled in around tomorrow afternoon, so you have a little time to prepare for him."  
  
"Not really," Kagome said, standing and checking her watch. "I have to eat at my family's house tonight! Mom's making me,"  
  
"Oh yeah, that's a real wild nightlife there," Kaede said dryly, catching Kagome off guard.  
  
"Hey, are you mocking me?!"  
  
"Nooo." Kaede drawled, shooing Kagome out of the room with a smile. "But you should go, I'm sure your mother's worried by now! You're late!"  
  
"What are you, a high-school boy?!" Kagome shrieked, storming out of the room, appalled that a sixty-year old woman would act in such away, as Kaede was left to chuckle to herself at the sight of Kagome's rapidly retreating form.  
  
That girl was a keeper.  
  
*  
  
Kagome sighed and rubbed her eyes of all their sleep, sitting in her little Ford Escort outside her family's shrine, later that evening. She was thoroughly exhausted from a day at the job after getting practically no sleep the other night, was about to endure a family dinner, and on top of it all, she really needed a new car.  
  
'Well, I AM getting paid a bit to do this FBI job. maybe I could start saving up,' Pause. 'Or maybe I really do need that money for school supplies this year.'  
  
Stifling a moan at her own stupidity, Kagome stepped out of the car and began the long haul up the shrine steps. She wore black tights and a red corduroy skirt, with a plain white blouse. The nights weren't quite so chilly yet, since it was still September, but if things kept going the way they were, soon she might have to ((gasp)) pack away her impressive miniskirt collection for the winter! Oh the horror.  
  
The rest of the day at work hadn't been too terrible, although she still was a little shell-shocked over the fact she was about to acquire a new child in her house. (Dear God, what was she going to tell Kiki and Keiko?!) Thankfully she hadn't seen Inuyasha anymore that day, for she would have been too tempted to ask him about Kikyo, and if he didn't want to talk about it, would have had too short a temper just then to deal with him and that mouth of his. Miroku gave her a schedule of their meditating and spiritual focusing lessons coming up, and Kagome had tried to look grateful for his help and guidance, even though she really just felt like burning the schedule and have been done with it. All in all though, the day hadn't been THAT terrible. And she'd had some damn good coffee!  
  
Finally she reached her house, part of the main shrine, making sure her hair wasn't too messy, and that all of her clothes were in order. She had this nagging feeling that her family didn't really think she was ready to live alone yet, and worked hard to convince them she was every time they made her come visit. Usually she failed horribly, but she was set to make things look good this time. After all, getting a secretary job at the FBI was pretty mature, right?  
  
'I'll have to break the FBI thing to them carefully, and make sure not to reveal any demon-like secrets. It's just an ordinary secretary job. at the FBI. Right, Mom might not like that part anyway, better be extra careful.'  
  
However, no sooner had Kagome run the doorbell, than she realized it was too late to be careful. She was IN.  
  
"Kagome!" Her mother cried, swinging open the door, a worried expression plastered onto her feature. "What's this I hear about you getting a job at the FBI!?"  
  
"Uhhh." Was Kagome's quick response. How did she KNOW already? She hadn't TOLD anyone! She hadn't-  
  
"Way to go sis! That is TOO cool!!"  
  
"Granddaughter, what are you doing working for the FBI? It's a disgrace! You know they've been hiding ALIENS from us?."  
  
Kagome cried out in agony, as she let her family drag her into their house, not unlike an unsuspecting gerbil getting sucked into a vacuum cleaner. There was hardly any warning, and then, 'Vwoop!' and it was all over for the tiny, hair brained rodent.  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Truly sorry this meager little chapter took so long to get out, and I hope I didn't loose too many readers with my laziness. Did you like this chapter? Is the plot too weird, or maybe too predictable? PLEASE review, it would make me soooo happy. thanks! And happy holidays!  
  
Rio Grande 


	4. My So Called Life

Hey all! Once again thank you for the kind reviews, I really think about them when I write, so remember - your opinion does matter!  
  
I have to apologize for bringing Kikyo into the mix, but there IS a reason she's part of the Inuyasha cast, and she does deserve a part in every AU story. I don't personally like the woman very much, but I don't believe she is the epitome of evil either. Don't fret though; I'm a huge Inu/Kag supporter, so no worries in that area.  
  
Someone pointed out to me that the story is a lot like MIB. hmmm; well, I've never actually seen Men In Black, only Men In Black 2, although even from that movie I can make a good guess as to why my fic would remind you of that scenario. (And here I thought I was only copying off one story line! Sigh.) Well, whatever, I promise you 'Bitten' won't follow that plot much further since it sort of branches off into its own category of 'really weird Inuyasha-ness' after this chapter. In any case, I hope you enjoy the fic, and don't forget to review, please!  
  
ALSO- although I doubt anyone noticed, I made a mistake with the timeframe last chapter: It was Saturday, and the next day it was Monday. um, okay, we're just going to pretend that never happened and get on with it. Today is Monday in Kagome's world, and starting tomorrow it's Tuesday - All is good. No one really likes Sunday anyway.  
  
I don't own Inuyasha. or One for The Money. or MIB..  
  
*  
  
Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Four: My So Called Life (Of which I don't own either!) (But that's a terribly wonderful show as well.) (God I have to start getting some original ideas over here.)  
  
*  
  
"So, remind me again how you found out that I'm working as a secretary for the FBI when I haven't actually told anyone yet?" Kagome asked, letting herself be seated at the family table with an almost imperceptible sigh of anguish, as her mother came into the room holding a pot of steaming noodles, and a worried expression etched onto her features. Next to the college student, her fifteen-year-old brother, Sota, was beaming excitedly, impressed beyond words that his stupid elder sister was finally doing something COOL with her life. Hey, maybe she actually knew James Bond now or something! On Kagome's other side, her withered old grandfather, and head priest of the Sunset Shrine, was muttering darkly over his tea, horrified beyond words that his favorite granddaughter was undoubtedly partaking in unspeakable things such as alien experimentation now. Damn scientists. damn National Security!  
  
"Well, your Aunt Kimeko is friends with Ms. Taka, you remember her from across the street all those years ago don't you? Oh, she moved down to the west side, and I miss her holiday cookies, they were always so good!- anyway, Ms. Taka's husband Shiji is a police officer whose old partner Mr. Watasa has recently become a member of the FBI criminal investigations unit and heard that a young girl named Kagome Higurashi had just been offered a job in one of the more private criminal investigation units that even he's not permitted to work on! And of course he remembered your name from the winter pageant and you living at the shrine, so he went home and told his wife who also remembered you and immediately called her good friend Aunt Kimeko who was so surprised she came home straight after her work at the children's daycare center down on 40th street and called me while I was making dinner- and you can imagine how startled I was!" her mother said, laughing lightly. Kagome stared at her mother, head spinning. The woman tended to get off track while talking.  
  
"I. see." Kagome said, nodding slowly, not really understanding at all, but knowing better than to doubt the intricate and reliable system that was the mother's gossiping unit of Tokyo.  
  
"What part of the FBI are you working in Kagome that's so secret Mr. Taka isn't permitted to know about it?!" Sota asked, leaning forward with interest.  
  
"Oh.. You know. just detective. stuff." Kagome cautiously got out, wondering how to put this without revealing some rather disturbing parts of her job.  
  
"Sounds fishy to me," her grandfather said, leaning down to quickly loose himself in his ramen as Kagome's mother came around and served everybody some.  
  
"Oh, well, it's not!" Kagome quickly assured him, having no desire to have Grandfather Higurashi breathing down her back about this job for months to come. "I mean, all I do is sit there and take calls and file all day! It's nothing major! I'm hardly trained so I couldn't be doing anything dangerous," she said, lying. Well, not really lying. She really wasn't trained, but she was going to be, for some reason, doing incredibly dangerous work.  
  
"Well that's a relief," her mother said, pleasant smile now firmly back in place.  
  
"Well that's a let down," her brother said, posture slackening as he dug into his ramen. Kagome sighed, you just couldn't please everyone!  
  
'Oh my God. I forgot I have to tell them about Shippou.' Kagome realized with a start, eyes widening. Hmmm. how to approach this one? She was still in shock herself over the whole thing, and still trying to remember how Kaede had convinced her to go along with all this. It was going to be a drastic change to her lifestyle, no matter that Shippou wouldn't actually be living with her all day, just mainly in the evening. How could she calmly inform her family of the new, odd happenings in her life if she still hadn't completely come to terms with them herself?  
  
(A/N- Did you know, I totally made up that whole, 'she's going to live with Shippou' thing on the spot? Ah well, it turned out okay.)  
  
"Sooo. I'm adopting a kid," Kagome decided upon starting off with.  
  
Grandfather Higurashi began choking with a noodle half way down his throat, spitting out the rest of the contents in his mouth across to Sota who squeaked with disgust and consequentally knocked his glass of water over so that it spilled onto Kagome and she had to jump up from her chair, napkin in hand. Kagome's mother seemed to freeze up completely, halting with her spoon in midair en route to her mouth, eyes going as wide as ping pong balls.  
  
"WHAT." The family chorused together, staring pointedly at the twenty year old.  
  
"Um- okay, so I phrased that wrong. I'm. going to have a child live with me in the evenings because his mother, my . friend, is currently out of town," she said, struggling to come up with a suitable lie on the spot. This seemed to sit better with the family though, and her mother let out yet another sigh of relief as Kagome began to sponge off her skirt, returning to her seat.  
  
"But, Kagome, are you sure this is a wise idea, what with your college studies?" her mother asked, still wary. Sota made a 'bleck' noise as he wiped off the guck his grandpa had spat at him when he choked on his noodles.  
  
"Oh. it should be okay. I mean, classes are over in a week for winter vacation, and I only have one more final after I take the Ancient Japanese one tomorrow," Kagome explained, even though personally she tended to agree with her mother. She was far from prepared to be living with a child, be he demon or no.  
  
"Oh Kagome, I don't know." her mother said, trailing off anxiously. Kagome sighed. Just another family dinner!  
  
"How long is he staying with you? And what is this friend of yours doing so that she can't take care of the child, or at least hand it over to some relatives?" Grandpa Higurashi asked speculatively. Kagome pulled on her collar, and gave off an awkward smile. Hmmm.  
  
"Well. actually, she's in the hospital."  
  
"Oh, how awful!"  
  
".For bunion surgery."  
  
".Ew."  
  
"In England, that's why I said she'd be out of town. so she'll be gone awhile."  
  
"That's odd,"  
  
"And he has no other living relatives," Okay, not a total lie. "And she knows I'm really responsible so she let me take care of him while she was getting the operation," Lie. Right there, lie!  
  
"Well, I suppose if it's unavoidable." Kagome's mother sighed, resigning herself to the fact that her daughter was going to be undoubtedly responsible for the death of a young child within the next few days.  
  
"What's his name?" Sota wanted to know.  
  
"Shippou Kit," Kagome was quick to reply. Finally, a question she knew the answer to!  
  
"Hm, that's odd, I don't know any of your friends who have the last name Kit." Her mother said, frowning. Erk!  
  
"WELL. that's because I met her at school and she's so busy with her son we don't have time to hang out much. out of school. And she's never been to this house," Kagome said as casually as she could, drowning out half her words in her cup.  
  
"Well, hopefully I'll get to see the little boy before too long. Is he cute?" Ms. Higurashi pressed.  
  
"Yeahhhh." Ah! Shippou had a tail! And yellow eyes! What was she supposed to do if people wanted to see the phantom child who was living with her? This would have to be brought up with Kaede.  
  
"Oh, good!" her mother giggled, clapping her hands together.  
  
The rest of the meal continued with a relative degree of normality, accompanied by only the occasional outburst from Kagome's grandfather, an unimaginably old man who was very dedicated to his temple but admittedly loony. The meal consisted of ramen, sautéed vegetables and chicken. Everything reminded Kagome so much of home, and of a time before her life had disintegrated to easy-mac, that she ended up leaving with a whole lot of food in some little containers, for tomorrow's dinner no doubt, since she could easily see herself being too tied up with studying for that last final and writing up that report Kaede had requested, to be bothered with little things like proper nourishment.  
  
"Bye Kagome, come visit again soon! You hardly visit anymore now that you've moved out!" Kagome mother said as she led her only daughter out of the house around two hours after she had first entered.  
  
"I like it!" Sota said, putting in his two cents from where he was stretched out on the couch playing gameboy. Kagome stuck out her tongue at Sota as she left.  
  
"Get a life! And, sorry Mom, but it's school! And now with this job."  
  
"I wish you had conferred with me about that job before you took it!" Ms. Higurashi admitted, while grandpa nodded gravely behind her. "How much are you getting paid, anyway?"  
  
"UM-. well,"  
  
"Well, don't you know? For Pete's sake you MUST know how much you're getting paid," Grandpa Higurashi huffed, furrowing his brows together.  
  
"How will you support Shippou? Or is your friend giving you money for that?"  
  
"Of course I know how much I'm getting paid! I just. forgot!" Kagome said, shrugging helplessly. "And. yeah, she's paying me," 'She' had better be.  
  
"Oi, and this girl lives alone," Grandpa moaned, rolling his eyes heavenwards. He had TOLD her to just live at home, but nooo. Kagome laughed uneasily, and quickly backpedaled out of the house.  
  
"Well, have to be going, more studying and stuff, see you later- bye!" Kagome said hastily, clutching her Tupperware to her as she exited, and dashed down the shrine steps at break neck speeds, heading towards the Ford Escort with a purpose in her steps.  
  
"How much do I get paid? Honestly, come on Kagome, why didn't you think of that?" Kagome asked, smacking her head as she plunked herself into the car, and grabbed her keys from her jacket pocket. "Momma's going to think I'm a total ditz now, too! And I don't want to KNOW what grandpa thinks,"  
  
As Kagome reached one hand over to turn on the ignition, a spot of red caught her eye. Frowning she brought her right hand up to her mouth, watching as a paper thin cut across her palm began to bleed.  
  
"Hm, must have got a paper cut on something," she said, cocking her head, and sucking on the cut gently. It was funny, but something felt. off, suddenly, in the air. Kagome sat in total silence for a second, staring off into nothingness. before shrugging the sensation off. "Must be the stress. I'm definitely overworked," she decided firmly, even though she had technically been working for the demon FBI for a grand total of: One day. Hardly.  
  
Kagome drove home in the artificial light of Tokyo's streets quickly, and traveled into her apartment with her little Tupperware in a total daze. The elevator ride was like a dream, and by the time she had put her jacket and keys away, not to mention slipped into an oversized tee shirt, she was already dead on her feet. Buyo, having wizened up from last time, quickly rolled out of the way as Kagome came crashing down on her bed head first, and didn't rise from that position. Buyo gave his master the once over, before sighing and heading off to meet the 'family' down in the ally for a little 'talk'. Honestly, they were coming to him on this day, on this day of his nap, asking for favors.  
  
*  
  
"Engh?" Kagome asked no one in particular, as her eyes snapped open to the sound of her alarm going haywire next to her head. She lay in bed, listening to the alarm for a little longer, a bit confused, generally. Why was she up so early? Classes didn't start for another two hours on Tuesdays, and from this apartment it only took ten minutes to get to class, one of the reasons she had bought it. So why. "Ohhh, right," Kagome sighed in her croaky morning voice. Today was the day Shippou came to stay with her, and she had set her alarm clock to wake her up earlier than usual, previously, so that she could get the house set up all nice. She wouldn't be returning to it until later that day with Shippou himself, after all.  
  
The woman slid out of bed and crawled over to the coffee machine, realizing she wouldn't be able to think over anything properly until she had gotten her daily caffeine intake.  
  
"Ahhh, much better," she found herself hissing a few minutes later over a steaming mug of dark coffee. Okay, so, Shippou. What was it going to be like having him stay at her house? She knew he wasn't young enough for diapers, but was he old enough to avoid all of those hard questions, like: Where do babies come from? And: Why do we die? Also, what would it be like living with a kid who had recently experienced possibly the most traumatic moment of his life? And were there special things about demon kids she should be aware of? Kagome frowned and firmly set her mug down. Above all, she had to focus on helping Shippou, and not worry about her own life. That kid deserved it!  
  
"What do you think Buyo, is this a good first impression outfit?" Kagome asked a bit later, standing in front of the mirror and observing herself while Buyo marched around her feet, trying to get her attention. Fooood, he wanted fooood!  
  
Kagome wore black tights again, this time with a dark denim mini skirt (It wasn't too cold yet, dammit!) and a comfortable off white sweater with a navy blue stripe across the middle. Black boots adorned her feet, and she had a little clip on the left side of her head, the rest of her raven hair flowing freely around her shoulders. Not much make-up, but she had brushed her teeth and taken a shower earlier, so Kagome figured she was fit to go out in public.  
  
"Meoowww,"  
  
"Yeah, I thought so too. Well, good then. And I've already cleaned the apartment so now all I have to do is go to class. where I'll have to take my second to last final, and do really well on it. then I go pick up to the office to see Shippou! Not to mention do some miko training with Miroku - Then I go back to school because I have a Literature class, where we'll be doing virtually nothing since the finals are over in that course and this is the last class before vacation, at 1:25. and then I go back to the office to pick-UP Shippou and take him back here, after I've worked for a while at the office, of course. Oh God Buyo kill me now!" Kagome moaned, while grabbing the box of kibbles for Buyo, and pouring a healthy amount into a bowl for him.  
  
Seeing as how Buyo didn't look especially inclined to help Kagome with this request, Kagome settled for standing back and watching Buyo happily much away at his food. After getting a questioning glance that seemed to state 'Well, what are you looking at?' from the self-conscious feline, the college student decided maybe it was just time to grab her messenger bag and leave.  
  
"See ya later tonight Buyo!" Kagome called over her shoulder as she left the apartment, heading over to Tokyo University for her Ancient Japanese History Final. She HAD studied for this one, right?  
  
'I'm so screwed.'  
  
  
  
*  
  
As Kagome stumbled along on her way to Tokyo University (A/N- don't really know about Japanese colleges, lets just pretend this ones a perfectly fine, mediocre one, okay?) digging around in her bag for notes and last minute study tips, she hardly noticed as someone came up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulder.  
  
"Ah!" Kagome gasped, spinning on her heal to see who it was. "Oh! - Hojo." Kagome sighed, relieved it was just her old friend, smiling down at her.  
  
"Hey Kagome," he said companionably, nodding his head. Hojo was cute, as far as male airheads go. he had light, silky hair and was pretty tall, though not exactly the man of steal, like say. Inuyasha, but he wasn't a wimp either. Just very, very sensitive. Kagome nodded her head back at him, for the first time noticing a girl behind him.  
  
"Oh, Kiki!" Kagome exclaimed, cocking her head as her sporty friend stepped forward, smiling widely as well. "What are you doing here? You don't have any classes this morning, do you?"  
  
"No, I just spotted Hojo on his way to school and thought I'd meet up with you here," she explained, leaning against one of the many trees that decorated Tokyo University's campus. As far as campuses went, Kagome wasn't naïve to the fact that her college's wasn't exactly spectacular, but it was home.  
  
"Oh! Well, hi." Kagome said dully, it still being far too early in the day for proper small talk.  
  
"Keiko and I were wondering if you wanted to come to dinner with us tomorrow night- we're going to the new sushi bar on 30th!" she explained.  
  
"I'm coming too," Hojo pointed out helpfully.  
  
"I'll see, I don't really know yet. Actually, I just got a new job so." Kagome said, trailing off, and not wanting to admit that the real reason she might not be able to make it was because she had a little demon to watch over.  
  
"A job?! Really? Where." Kiki said, as if it was unfathomable that anyone with a brain in their head would really want to hire Kagome to work for them. The girl was sweet, but the last intern job she had taken had ended up with a small explosion in a law firm's conference room, due to an old VCR and a particularly violent cup of iced coffee, not to mention a hopping mad VP. Kiki shuddered unpleasantly as she remembered how horribly that job had gone over.  
  
"I've taken a job at the FBI," Kagome admitted with a sigh.  
  
"Whoa! Way to go Higurashi!" Kiki exclaimed, clapping her friend on the back with a slightly awed expression on her face.  
  
"You're not doing anything dangerous are you?" Hojo asked, looking generally concerned.  
  
"No, just secretary stuff." Kagome conceded.  
  
"Well how much are you getting paid?" Kiki wanted to know.  
  
"Um. they haven't decided yet," Kagome decided to say. Since really, they hadn't! She hadn't even discussed a payment with Kaede yet, even though the old woman had promised Kagome compensation for her services, especially now with Shippou.  
  
"Really? That's odd," Kiko said, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "You better get that checked out. Well, I have to fly babe! Good luck on your final, you too Hojo!" Kiki said, touching Hojo on the arm briefly before she trotted off in the direction of the gym, waving jovially.  
  
"Bye!" Kagome and Hojo called, waving her off, before turning to walk into the History building, slightly unenthusiastic expressions suddenly coming over their faces.  
  
"Soo. did you study?" Kagome asked as she traveled up the staircase.  
  
"Why, of course! Didn't you?" Hojo asked quickly, glancing at his (unrequited) one and only.  
  
"Oh - well, yes! I mean, God, DEFFINITELY. I was just, um, you know, making sure YOU were prepared," Kagome muttered unconvincingly while giving herself a series of vicious mental head smacks.  
  
"Say, Higurashi." Hojo murmured softly after a moment. Kagome turned to look at the man quickly - usually when he spoke in that tone of voice it meant he was about to ask something important.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I was wondering if. if you would want to go on a date with me, sometime this weekend. You know - because it will be vacation and all of our finals will be done and such." he said, adorably hesitant, even though this had to be about the, what, two billionth time he had ever asked Kagome out in his life, starting in Kindergarten, Ms. Mako's class.  
  
"Um, well." Kagome said, frowning lightly. On the one hand, it wouldn't hurt. She didn't have to work on the weekends, and it WOULD be vacation, and Hojo looked so desperate! - on the other hand, Kagome was positive she had made it clear last year that this awkward relationship between the two of them just wasn't going to float, about a year ago now. "I don't know Hojo," she said softly as they neared the classroom.  
  
"Oh, well, I see! Of course, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, I know we've discussed it and." Hojo said, blushing a bit and rubbing the back of his head bashfully. Kagome's heart melted a bit.  
  
"It's just, I don't want to lead you on anymore Hojo," she admitted, eyes wide as she tried to get him to understand her point of view. She just didn't LIKE like him!  
  
"No, I understand, don't worry, it's fine." He said, waving off her explanations, and slipping into the classroom. Kagome sighed contritely, before turning around to enter the class, forcing her mind off Hojo's pitiful expression, and onto those Ancient Japanese notes she conveniently forgot to study, what with the burning demon apartment and new spiritual powers.  
  
*  
  
"Breath in Kagome. you're too tense."  
  
'You'd be tense too if you'd just failed your final.'  
  
"Keep your eyes closed! No one's about to walk in here and start laughing at how funny you look!"  
  
'Jeez, that option hadn't even crossed my mind, but thanks for getting me all worried about it,'  
  
"Feel the power running through your veins and embrace it."  
  
'Ooomm..'  
  
"Dig deep inside and find that hidden surplus inside you! Bring it out!"  
  
'Oooommmm..shalalala.'  
  
"Kagome, I know your power's there! Why can't you use it?"  
  
'I don't know! Stop asking such hard questions!'  
  
"All right open your eyes. I think we're going to have to try a different approach." Kagome sighed thankfully and cracked her gray eyes open, stretching lightly as she did so. Miroku, dressed in some baggy pants and a t-shirt, had been instructing Kagome on mediation styles since she had entered the office that day. First they had worked on simply letting all of the thoughts out of her mind, and just focusing on her 'inner self'. Then they had practiced imaging actions in her head while she was meditating. Then they had imagined her bringing the power OUT of her body, and using it . and that's where they had stopped. Kagome could feel the power in her, knew it was there; she just. just. couldn't. grab it, was maybe the term she was searching for. It was an odd feeling, knowing you had all this power inside you. She had never had it before, and now that she did, she wasn't overly sure what to do with it. And for that she was totally thankful for Miroku and Kaede's instruction. However, something seemed to be going awry with Miroku's lesson, Kagome could tell from the distraught look on his usually mild-mannered features.  
  
"Kagome, you DO feel the power in you, right?" Miroku asked, staring levelly at her, just to be sure.  
  
"Yeah! We already went over that bit, remember? When we were digging inside ourselves and-"  
  
"Yes, yes I remember, but if we've already been through that, then you should technically be able to just use that power as you please. It shouldn't be unobtainable to you," Kagome had nothing to say to that, so she decided to just watch the variety of emotions pass through her mentor's features in silence. "Ah, maybe it's just me," Miroku sighed finally, stretching his arms above his head,  
  
"You?" Kagome repeated, confused.  
  
"Yes. You had been excelling so fast in all of the other lessons today, and with all of those stunts you apparently pulled in that burning building with Naraku, I had been pushing you faster than I rarely push any other pupils under my instruction," the young priest/agent admitted. Kagome cocked her head.  
  
"Everyone keeps saying I'm doing so good, but I really don't think I have any true control over my powers," she said hesitantly. "They just sort of come to me when I'm half crazy with desperation, you know? Of course, I haven't had them for long, really, so I don't know."  
  
"No, no that could be right." Miroku said, shaking his head. "Some people. some people with an extraordinary amount of power never are able to totally harness their gifts. They just come to them when they need them, and get stronger the more dire their situation is. Of course, you're also right that we can't be sure yet. You're so green with your powers, we really can't assume anything until you've tried them out some more,"  
  
".So that means more lessons, then?"  
  
"'Fraid so,"  
  
"Darn."  
  
"Kagome!!" A loud, angry voice boomed, stomping down the hall. Kagome winced, and Miroku frowned. Who was that? Before either person still sitting cross-legged on the ground had a chance to voice their worries, the door to the room was slammed open, lock be damned, and in the doorway now stood a very angry, suddenly very tall Inuyasha, with a tiny kitsune hanging off his long silver hair by his teeth, swinging around so violently he seemed to be giving himself whiplash, growling deliriously in a very high pitched voice none-the-less.  
  
Kagome stared, shocked at the odd appearance of the hanyou, before snorting quietly into her hand, trying to hold back giggles. Inuyasha looked so funny!  
  
"What are you laughing at?" Inuyasha snapped, folding his arms, Shippou still swinging around his head. "Come over here and take this brat! He's under your charge now, isn't he?!"  
  
"Well, yeah, but."  
  
"Well, then come get him! The little whelp's been hanging around me since I came in! Babbling about revenge and how he's going to kill Naraku. He's driving me crazy, and he has the energy level of the Duracell Bunny!" Inuyasha complained, finally plucking Shippou off his hair, and holding the demon away from himself as though he smelled like something rancid. Kagome sighed, taking pity on Inuyasha who obviously didn't know how to behave around kids, cradling Shippou, who immediately calmed down, in her arms.  
  
"Hey," he said in his cute little voice after a moment of confusion. "You're that girl from the other day,"  
  
"Yeah," Kagome said, smiling. "That's me. I'm also the one you're going to be living with," she added as an afterthought.  
  
"Oh," Shippou said, nodding in understanding. "That's cool." Kagome smiled some more, and then put Shippou down, watching as he clung to her leg and hid behind her, using her as a wall for when Inuyasha got pissed again. "And what's your problem man!? You're the biggest grouch I've ever met!"  
  
'Well, at least the little guy doesn't appear to be terribly depressed.' Kagome said, looking at the bright side of things as Inuyasha's face turned numerous different shades of red.  
  
"Why you little-! What did you expect?! Barging into my office with your little kitsune tricks at six thirty in the morning, bothering me when I'm trying to work on the very case you're so passionate about, and then pulling on my hair and sitting on my head when I don't listen!?" Inuyasha cried, apparently fed up beyond reason.  
  
"Well you were ignoring me!" Shippou explicated.  
  
"You get here at 6:30 in the morning?" Miroku asked, looking shocked.  
  
"God," Inuyasha groaned, rubbing his face and shaking his head. "I don't need this,"  
  
"Want some coffee?" Kagome offered generously, proffering some coffee from the superior coffee-making machine, of which she had been nursing for a while, waiting for it to cool down to a reasonable level of hotness.  
  
"No thanks," Inuyasha replied, in a relatively polite tone. "Don't drink the stuff."  
  
"Is that a demon thing too?" Kagome wanted to know, finding no other plausible reason as to why a normal person wouldn't drink coffee.  
  
".No. Listen I have to go work now, will you just keep him out of my hair? Literally?" Inuyasha pleaded, a pained look coming over his attractive features. Kagome sighed, she always was a sucker for pretty boys.  
  
"Fine. I should get to know you anyway, if we're going to be living together, hu?" Kagome said, turning her attention over to the little demon at her feet.  
  
"Yeah, definitely!" Shippou agreed, making a little popping sound, and then transforming into a small balloon with arms and round eyes, floating up so he was eyelevel with a rather stunned Kagome, and then zooming around her head to the tune of a little 'pffff'ing sound he emitted. Kagome giggled and Miroku smirked and the child's antics.  
  
"Hmph, kitsune," Inuyasha huffed, spinning on his heal and exiting the room. Kagome frowned after him. He was still in an exceptionally bad mood. how annoying.  
  
"Yeah. so. um, how are you feeling? I mean, you're all right Shippou?" she asked, phrasing the question delicately after Inuyasha was out of sight, and Shippou transformed back into his normal state at her feet. She had been thinking about how she was going to help this little guy all day, and she was determined to do this right.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to get revenge for my parents by ripping out Naraku's guts and then strangling him to death with his own innards," Shippou confided in the college student, his tone completely childish and innocent the whole time.  
  
"Right. Of course. Why didn't I think of that," Kagome said, staring blankly ahead. Of course she would have to get the freak child.  
  
"So, what are you guys doing?" Shippou inquired, glancing at Miroku who was still seated on the floor in a meditative position.  
  
"We were practicing mediation and miko skills, Shippou. Would you like to join us?" Miroku asked politely.  
  
"Wow, really!? That sounds cool, I've never done any magical stuff before," Shippou said, jumping up and down excitedly. Kagome studied him carefully. Huh, Inuyasha was right. he was like the Duracell Bunny.  
  
And as Kagome, Miroku and Shippou all began to resume practice, Kagome noted that as Shippou did everything with a childlike curiosity, he really was a child at heart, and probably all that weird stuff he said before was just because he had been forced to grow up so fast with all the terrible stuff that had happened to him recently. Probably.  
  
*  
  
A few hours later, after mediation lessons were over, and Kaede had taken Shippou away for some personal stuff about possessions and wills, and after Kagome had scheduled a time to talk with the elderly woman tomorrow about payments for herself and for supporting Shippou, not to mention addressing the little detail about his appearance, and then after Kagome had taken a minute to swing by the cafeteria to grab a bight to eat while ogling at the array of very odd demons assembled in the dining hall provided, she finally found herself wandering down the hall slowly towards her office, where she decided she had better start that report for Kaede. Luckily, something interesting caught her attention before she could make it to the computer.  
  
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, touching the agent lightly on the elbow as she approached him. He quickly snapped his head over to her, golden eyes piercing and angry. He stood assembled with many other grave looking agents, surrounding the demon detaining room Kagome remembered from her first day at the offices. It looked as though everyone were investigating a crime scene. Kagome shuddered as she heard the familiar sound of angry demons howling away in their cells. "What's going on?"  
  
"Oh, it's you," Inuyasha acknowledged, turning back to the scene. "It's. nothing. We've just lost a demon, is all," the hanyou muttered as casually as he could.  
  
"'Lost?'" Kagome repeated nervously.  
  
"Well, she broke out, really," he admitted almost sheepishly, as though it was his fault. "We just can't freaking find out HOW! These cells were supposed to be impenetrable!"  
  
"Which one broke out?" Kagome asked fearfully, standing on her tiptoes to peer over the heads of agents investigating the destroyed cell, imagining one of the uglier demons she had spotted before, lurking around the offices, waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting agent.  
  
"Yura,"  
  
"Eh?" Kagome squeaked, coming back down to stare Inuyasha in the eye. That creepy woman with the weird vibes and deceptive smile? "But she was the most heavily surveyed! I don't understand."  
  
"Neither do I," he huffed, folding his arms gravely. "And I've been thinking about it all morning. I just didn't want to worry Shippou with it by coming here."  
  
'That must have been why he was so aggravated this morning. He didn't want to scare Shippou, but he had to examine this crime scene, so he waited and waited. that's so sweet!!' Kagome mentally gushed, a goofy little smile coming over her face.  
  
"What's THAT look?"  
  
"It's nothing! Nothing!" Yeesh.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome bit her lip as she remembered she had wanted to ask Inuyasha about something earlier, and had forgotten. Kikyo. She had wanted to ask him about his ex-partner, even though she had been forewarned by Kaede that he didn't like to discuss the subject. But Kagome HAD to know! It was strictly about business after all. Kagome wanted to know precisely what had happened to the miko, and if she too was at risk of being shipped off to America. The thought that Inuyasha had a partner who was almost killed it appeared, under shady circumstances, honestly bothered her.  
  
"Um!" Kagome started.  
  
"Yes?" Inuyasha asked, turning to look down at her. But as the girl looked into his inquisitive gold eyes. she realized that maybe her reasons for wanting to know about Kikyo weren't so innocent. It was true, Inuyasha and Kikyo had been involved romantically before. and it was possible that Kagome was also developing a crush on the brute. and it might disturb her just a little bit that she apparently resembled Kikyo a lot. It might make her feel sad to think that all those times when Inuyasha had been kind and considerate to her, he was only doing it because her face reminded him of someone he had loved, and not of a girl he could grow to love.  
  
"Never mind," Kagome mumbled, staring at the floor, frowning.  
  
"Riiight.Anyway, don't you have a college course to get to or something?" Inuyasha mumbled irritably, leaning against the wall while he spoke, and choosing to let the other agents work their butts off on this one case. He already had another substantial one on his hands right now, and honestly he didn't need this little disturbing turn of events to distract him. He had brought the woman in once, what more did they want from him?! Inuyasha stopped to watch Kagome as her eyes expanded to the size of beach balls at his comment.  
  
"Oh my God!" she cried, whipping out her watch, staring at it fearfully. "I have to be there in like fifteen minutes! Thank you so much for reminding me Inuyasha. Good luck with Yura, I hope she doesn't come after you and try to decapitate you. bye!!" Inuyasha stared blankly at Kagome's rapidly retreating back as she galloped away; processing everything she had quickly spat out in silence.  
  
"Oh. Yeah. Thanks. I'll watch out for her," Inuyasha said, a little late as he heard the distinct sound of a door slamming in the distance.  
  
*  
  
"So, what kind of food do you like to eat?" Kagome called into the living room, connected to her small kitchen, as she rummaged through the cabinets, looking for some suitable demon food. Heyy, what about Easy-Mac!?  
  
"Ummm. I don't know. Anything I guess," A suddenly shy Shippou replied from her couch, head bowed, and being oddly demure. Next to him, Buyo eyed the kitsune warily. What sort of an animal was THAT?  
  
"I like the way you think, kid," Kagome said pleasantly. Easy-Mac it was.  
  
The entire day had been exhausting for the girl. On top of all that work in the morning, her Literature course had been a real bore, and she had nearly fallen asleep in it, trying to listen to her professor's ridiculously unexciting blather. Then she had tottered on back to the office, really started to get into writing that report for Kaede, admittedly glorifying the whole apartment experience a bit, before Inuyasha had slammed into her office. Shippou once again hanging off his long hair. He had hurled the small demon at Kagome with a dour expression on his face, commented on the fact that the Yura case had made little to no progression, and then slammed his way back out of the room.  
  
A little while after that Kagome had driven Shippou home, some hours later, noticing how, when they were alone, he seemed to be a bit shy about her. A trait she found simply endearing. However he was still showing little signs of depression, which was surprising considering the turn his life had recently taken.  
  
And now her day was about to get a whole lot more stressful, because she found, to her total horror that they were.  
  
Out of Easy-Mac. (Dun dun DUN.)  
  
Not to mention all other victuals. In short, it was looking like Kagome was going to have to take a quick step out to the grocery store, and scrounge up some food for her newly acquired child.  
  
'Dammit!' she sighed, grabbing her coat. 'Why didn't I notice this earlier? I cleaned the house so thoroughly even my clothes smell like Windex. but I forget to buy food. God. Not a good start,'  
  
"Hey Shippou," she called, jogging into the room with her keys in hand. "Looks like the only thing in the fridge is butter, eggs and orange juice, and unless you want a really messed up omelet. I think I'm going to have to go buy us some stuff and the grocery store down the corner. You wanna come?" she asked amiably, putting out some major friendly vibes. She was good at that.  
  
The little demon who, for the first time Kagome noticed, was starting to look a little weary, shook his head negatively. It had probably been a very hard day for Shippou too, Kagome realized with a start. More exhausting then for her, no doubt! Poor thing probably just wanted to sleep! Kagome's eyes shimmered, and she nodded understandingly.  
  
"I see.well, why don't you just rest, and watch some T.V?" she offered, slipping into her jacket. "I'll be back in ten minutes max. and you have my cell phone number. you're okay alone, right?" she questioned.  
  
"Yeah," Shippou assured her. "Us demon kids are smarter than normal human ones," he pointed out, look a wee bit proud.  
  
"Right, of course," Kagome agreed, walking towards the door. "Well, see you in a sec!"  
  
She quickly hopped into her elevator, being on the fourth floor of her apartment, and zipped out as soon as the doors open, determined to make sure Shippou didn't have to be unaccompanied for any longer then absolutely necessary. She felt guilty enough for leaving him alone already!  
  
'So, what to get,' Kagome thought as she rushed along the darkened street that night, making a grocery list in her head. She didn't have much money, so better make it short. 'Milk, cheese, bread, peanut butter and jelly, because everybody loves that, ramen, Easy-Mac, obviously, maybe some broccoli because I have to start eating healthy now for Shippou, and.' Kagome trailed off, coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the almost completely vacant street, eyes wide, and staring out into the distance.  
  
"Hey." she breathed softly, swallowing. "Something's. wrong." And indeed something was wrong. Kagome felt in the pit of stomach an uncomfortable and dark power swirling around her, leaving her shivering and scared. Something was amiss in the area, and she couldn't see it. had no idea what was behind it. but her miko powers were alerting her to the fact that there was definitely something unnatural happening roughly around her.  
  
Quickly, the raven-haired girl swung around to look at her apartment, making sure everything was right there, and that Shippou wasn't trapped inside her flaming house right now.  
  
"Ouch!" she hissed, touching her face as she felt something slice across it while she turned around. Blood dripped down her fingers, and she felt a long, paper-thin cut across her cheekbone. just like the other night with her hand. "What's this?." she wondered aloud, eyes darting about as she searched for whatever it was that had sliced her. She sucked in a breath, and took a cautious step back, and something most definitely caught her eye, and gave explanation to why she had just been cut.  
  
Strings. Everywhere.  
  
Long, thin, razor sharp strings stretched out like a large spider web all over the block. The were hung around like a tight cat's cradle, and Kagome sensed something odd about them. They were unnaturally deadly, and felt a little off. Almost as if they weren't strings. kind of as if they were more like.  
  
"Hair," Kagome breathed in horror.  
  
"La, so you can see it?" In truth, Kagome didn't really WANT to turn around to find out who had just said that, her natural instincts encouraging her to run, and not be bashful about it. but her curiosity won this battle, and she found herself soon cautiously peering behind her, eventually coming to gaze up at an attractive woman balancing on some of the hair, with even more wrapped around her fingers and splaying out around her. She was staring back at Kagome with some degree of innocent curiosity, although Kagome knew for a fact that this person was, in particular, anything but innocent.  
  
It was Yura.  
  
'Oh God... this isn't happening. not now. why did the crazy, escaped psychopath have to come after ME?! She doesn't even know who I am!' Kagome mentally whined, backing up, only to wince as she backed up into almost transparent hair, that bit uncomfortably into her back. Yura gave off a small smile and cocked her head to the side.  
  
"Well. I suppose mikos COULD see my hair, no matter how weak they are," Yura acknowledged, as Kagome's mouthed open and closed like a fish out of water. No! She wanted to keep her head! After a long stretch of silence, Yura swung down to just in front of Kagome, balancing on her hair like an acrobat, looking her right in the eyes. Yura's eyes being frighteningly bottomless. "You are Kagome Higurashi. are you not?"  
  
"Y-yes!" Kagome got out, deciding it was time to get some backbone, and sort things out now. "And you're Yura, right?" Just to make sure.  
  
"Why yes! That's me!" Yura giggled, looking unreasonably pleased. "Yura of the Hair, if you want to get technical about it. but I won't be offended if you don't remember that name, since I'm about to end your life," she droned on, casually, in a tone that suggested she could have just as easily been discussing the weather.  
  
"What?" Kagome gasped, as the busty woman, wearing that little black outfit still, reached for the sword at her waist. 'God, she really is heartless!' Moving quickly, Kagome dived under the hair blocking her way, and behind Yura, before the crazy demon had a chance to slash her. Yura swiped the air where Kagome really should have been, as the girl in question made a run for her life, slipping around hair and dashing down the street, in the opposite direction of her apartment. She had to get this woman away from Shippou!  
  
"It's no use running!" Yura cried, taking her dangerously pointed sword and aiming it at Kagome, now a good few yards ahead. The sword whizzed forward, and sliced into the brick wall Kagome turned behind, now embedded deeply into it. Yura frowned lightly, and swung over to it, effortlessly wrenching it out of the brick. "Come back, I must kill you!" she explained sincerely, turning a corner, eyes glinting maliciously. She was enjoying this.  
  
However, the level of entertainment took a major nosedive as Yura found to her disappointment that Kagome had disappeared on the new block, and her demon senses could not detect her anywhere.  
  
"She must be using her miko powers to hide from me," Yura decided, chuckling darkly, yet at the same time childishly, to herself, in the dark of the street, face illuminated by the orange tinted streetlights.. She nodded her head slowly.  
  
"That's all right, miko girl! I'll find you anyway!" she assured the unoccupied street, slinging her sword over her shoulder, and swinging up into the air, laughing loudly so that the sound reverberated from all the buildings and made the chuckle sound much more deadly than it had originally.  
  
Yura was going to kill Kagome Higurashi.  
  
Meanwhile, Kagome, having dived under a wonderfully concealing minivan, and was indeed using her new powers, suddenly obtainable to her again now that she was in a very life threatening situation, winced as she watched a stray mouse get skewered on Yura's hair while dashing unawares down the block, in search of food. If what Yura said was true, and if people weren't supposed to see this deadly hair. how many innocents would be sliced in half tonight on account of this madwoman was after HER? The thought was devastating, and Kagome realized that if she was going to take this woman down.. She was going to need help. She couldn't let Yura run amuck!  
  
And surprisingly, the only person she found really came to mind when she needed aid in a situation like this. was the person who had saved her last time a demon had been out for her blood. Inuyasha.  
  
'Please Inuyasha! I need help! This woman's going to kill me! Where are you?' Kagome thought desperately, sliding cautiously out from under the silver minivan, and dashing off into the night, wishing she had something more substantial than that pepper spray on her to scare Yura away with. Where was her partner when she needed him?  
  
'Well, he's probably out searching for Yura anyway, so maybe that means we'll run into each other!' she thought hopefully, chest heaving as she ran, keeping both eyes peeled for any unhinged, slutty maniacs flying around the city on strands of hair, wielding an ancient sword. Sounded easy enough to spot. Especially when they were looking for you. 'If Yura ends up killing me. I'm going to be pretty pissed off,'  
  
*  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Review review review! Okay, now that we have that clear, I want to pose a question to all you readers out there, that has been bothering me, especially because I am considering writing a new story that involves it. Only once I'm pretty far into this one, rest assured, but. Why was Kikyo in hell? I mean, she WAS a priestess, and she DID lead a pretty honorable life. I'm not so sure killing demons qualifies as a hell-worthy crime, and when she pinned Inuyasha to the God-tree she didn't actually murder him. so why is she in hell? I don't actually know about whatever sort of religion we're following here, maybe there IS no alternative but hell for an afterlife, (You're listening to a naïve agnostic right now, obviously.) but it's sort of been bugging me, and I'd appreciate it if someone could educate me here. But, if you do reply to this, please don't say something like 'Because she's a stupid bitch and Inuyasha and Kagome belong together!!!' because that really doesn't have anything to do with it. Of course, I could be acting really stupid right now, and there could be some obvious reason as to why Kikyo's in hell that I don't remember. maybe she went to hell because she died with vengeful emotions. (Even though I thought she died wishing she could just be with Inuyasha. who she might have assumed had gone to hell. and that's why went there.) Okay, I'll stop. I'm just confusing myself. But I really do want to know, and I really do want you to comment about this story as well, because I really take all of your reviews to heart! (Thanks to whoever pointed out I was spelling Naraku wrong!) Until next time, (Two weeks? Three max.)  
  
Rio Grande~ * 


	5. Teamwork and Homicidal Maniacs

Hey all,  
  
Um. Okay. So, I guess that whole 'hiatus' thing didn't really work for me. Problem is, I got a sudden unexpected bout of writer's block for the story I was supposed to be working on, and I just couldn't bring myself to labor anymore over my Spirited Away story. Sorry. I guess.  
  
Anyway, I figure cranking out another Bitten chapter should be fun. I like writing this story! It gets me all happy. So, please read and review, and maybe I'll even add ANOTHER chapter RELATIVELY soon! Gee golly wiz.  
  
I don't Inuyasha, or one for the Money, (I figure I don't really have to mention that anymore since I'm totally dumping the idea of following One for The Money's plot, but it's ok.) and enjoy!  
  
*  
  
*Warning- This chapter is kinda violent, but no more than the comic. so. I guess you can all stomach it.  
  
* Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Five: Teamwork and Homicidal Maniacs  
  
*  
  
Kagome wouldn't hesitate to admit that she had no idea what she was going to do once she found Yura again.  
  
She only wanted to make sure no one was ripped to shreds by the demon's hair of doom, of which an uncomfortable amount was now twined around the city like a string of murderous lights on a really big Christmas tree. She also wanted that mentally deranged criminal be put back in jail . but how was she supposed to do that? So far, her training at the FBI had left her with the ability to sit still for an impressive amount of time while meditating on her inner self - a talent she doubted would take her very far when it came to Yura. Kagome knew that she would soon be upon the deceptively attractive woman, her miko senses effectively leading her towards Yura's distinctive aura, but the only good plan Kagome currently had as a way of self defense was miraculously having Inuyasha or Miroku or even Kaede pop up in the nick of time to save her sorry ass.  
  
'I'm going to die,' Kagome realized with a start, breathing heavily as she halted just outside Tokyo Park, a dense area of trees occasionally illuminated by the stray street lamp. It looked incredibly creepy at night, and unfortunately Kagome was positive that Yura was currently in there - she could feel it. Shuddering, and relieved that at least the demon had taken her killer hair somewhere less populated, and was off the streets, Kagome charged forward, keeping a sharp eye out for any hair strands that could potentially decapitate her.  
  
'This is so unbelievable,' Kagome admitted to herself, trotting down the paved road that twisted around the park path; eerily empty benches lining the trail. 'If you asked me a week ago what I thought I would be doing tonight, my answer would have probably been 'hibernating until vacation's over.' I don't even have any finals left this week, and then it's winter break! Yet here I am, running through the park in the dead of night, searching for a homicidal woman who actually has it in for me!' Head spinning, Kagome halted as she reached a large, empty field. The web of hair seemed particularly dense here, and Kagome's miko senses were screaming. Yura was very near.  
  
"Yura! Where are you?" Kagome called out into the night, against her better judgment. And while she got no verbal answer, Kagome did gauge some sort of disturbing reaction from Yura, who was still out of sight. Abruptly, the hair slashing its way across the field began to move, racing towards Kagome and then coming to spiral around her in a threatening way. Kagome screeched in terror, and ducked under hair trying to wrap itself around waist. Getting killed wasn't part of the plan.  
  
Unfortunately, from behind her a length of hair wrapped itself around her ankle, Kagome crying out in fear when it cut into her skin painfully. She fell onto the grass, and began to claw at the ground as Yura's hair started to drag her backwards, more strands wrapping themselves around both wrists and eventually lifting her into the air. Kagome let out another ear piercing screech, desperately praying that someone - anyone, at this point - would come to her rescue.  
  
"HELP!" she cried, as she found herself being painfully held five feet off the ground.  
  
"La! Sorry deary, but no one's going to come to help you now." A singsong voice chimed from behind the raven-haired girl. Kagome sucked in a gasp, head whipping around as she spotted Yura, perched on a tree off to the side, laughing at the girl's predicament. Her hands were performing a complicated version of cat's cradle with a nest of hair, and she seemed to be controlling the deadly strings this way. Kagome narrowed her eyes at the killer, struggling against her bonds - an action that proved to be notably futile.  
  
"Let me out of here Yura!" Kagome yelled threateningly.  
  
"Oh, and why should I do that? Would you hurt me if I don't? You don't really appear to be in a position to make demands with me, Ms. Higurashi. I suggest you stay still, and I will make your death quick and painless," Yura suggested generously. Kagome paled considerably, and took up her struggle anew, thrashing around more desperately than ever. NO! She was too young to die!  
  
"Stop it! Don't!" she cried, feeling blood begin to seep out of the burns on her ankles and wrists from being supported by the razor sharp hair. Yura let out a cold hearted cackle, enjoying Kagome's pathetic show of desperation, hands snapping together dangerously as she summoned a dense collection of hair up, to make a graceful sweeping arc towards Kagome bared, thin neck. Unable to tear her head away from the oncoming hair, thanks to the fact that her chin was being held up by a particularly sharp strand, Kagome closed her eyes and bit her lip, sorely wishing she was able to reach the pepper-spray in her pocket because she would have loved to see Yura in pain right around then. And then the young miko accepted death in her last moments.  
  
.Before a man with long, silver hair and piercing golden eyes, who was wearing a long leather jacket, ripped her out of Yura's confining web. Kagome gasped as she felt the hair holding her up break away easily, now being held close to a very muscular chest as she flew through the air. She came to land gracefully on the grass some yards away, heart beating so fast she feared it would pop out of her chest if given half a chance.  
  
".Inuyasha?" she whispered, wrapping her arms securely around his neck, and staring up at her partner's face. Inuyasha glanced back down, his eyes holding something akin to compassion as he looked over the trembling twenty year old. Kagome let out a relieved sigh and let herself be carefully lowered to the ground, impressed by her own ability to hold back tears. She had thought for sure she was a goner back there! "But how did you know I was-!"  
  
"Here, take my jacket," the agent said coolly, taking off his dark leather jacket that reached the back of his knees, and draping it over Kagome.  
  
"Oh, it's okay, I'm not cold." Kagome said, as Inuyasha appeared to transfer his attention back over to Yura, still sitting in the large tree, observing everything coolly.  
  
"No, it's for your protection. That jacket can shield you against the hair, and it's as strong as any bullet proof vest." He explained, giving her one last, relatively warm glance, before starting forward. Kagome watched him walk away with wide eyes, feeling for a second as though the nice Inuyasha she had known briefly was back, and the cold, stuffy one from the office was once again a thing of the past.  
  
'Why can't he always be this kind?' she wondered distantly, quickly slipping her arms into the sleeves of the leather jacket, which was a lot heavier than it looked, but not unbearable. How come he was only nice to her when she was in potentially life threatening situations? She cautiously began to follow Inuyasha, who was now having a heated discussion with the disgruntled looking Yura.  
  
"Yura, what do you think you're doing!?" Inuyasha started by crying, showing a great deal of tact as he decided that infuriating Yura some more was the better road to take here.  
  
Yura, who was indeed already pissed that her pray with the silky hair had been taken away from her, by the hated demon who had imprisoned her the first time, no less, hissed back in a menacing tone:  
  
"Why, what does it look like Inuyasha? I was trying to kill her and add her pretty little head to my collection." This didn't seem to cool Inuyasha's impressive temper, and he looked ready to pounce at the woman.  
  
"How dare you!! Why come after Kagome - what do you have against her!?" he demanded to know.  
  
"Well nothing, personally. I'm going to kill her as a favor to someone else," she laughed prettily. Kagome, now standing next to Inuyasha again, listened to Yura intently. Who would want her dead, and who would go to the extreme of sending this insane woman after her? Inuyasha too looked quite interested.  
  
"Who asked you to kill Kagome?" he called up to Yura.  
  
"Why, you know him quite well. It was. Naraku," she giggled jovially. Both Kagome and Inuyasha froze at this point, Inuyasha craning his head around to stare at Kagome fearfully. Kagome clenched her fists and bit her lip, not liking this new development one bit.  
  
"Inuyasha, why is Naraku." Kagome paused, eyes widening as she looked at something behind Inuyasha, racing towards him at high speeds. "INUYASHA, DUCK!" she screamed, grabbing the surprised half demon by the shoulders and pulling him to the ground with her, so that the thick collection of hair raced over the couple's heads and slammed into an unsuspecting tree behind them, splintering it and knocking the large oak over.  
  
"Drat," Yura cursed, snapping her fingers, and leaping onto a lone thread of hair, starting to walk towards the fallen duo.  
  
"Kagome." Inuyasha said, frowning as he watched the tree topple to the ground loudly. "You can see the hair?"  
  
"Of course, can't you?" Kagome wanted to know as she shakily got to her feet, Inuyasha lending her a hand. Was it true; was she really the only one who could see the deadly hair, like Yura had said?  
  
"No, not even Kaede can," Inuyasha admitted slowly. "Well, I suppose you are a miko."  
  
"Are you two done chatting? I would like to kill you know, please," Yura said darkly from behind Inuyasha, grabbing a delicate looking sword from the belt at her waist, and raising it threateningly above Inuyasha's head. One of Inuyasha's ears flicked backwards, his eyes never leaving Kagome's face, as he clasped the smaller girl to him and quickly rolled out of the way. Yura cursed as her sword bit into the cold ground.  
  
"Kagome, get away from here! I don't need you in the way when I fight!" Inuyasha said, thrusting Kagome behind him and coming to stand protectively in front of her. Kagome frowned and put one hand to her chest.  
  
"But you can't see the hair!" she pointed out. "You'll be shredded!"  
  
"I beat her before unable to see the hair, and I can do it again." He said simply, as Yura took up an offensive stance a little ways away from him.  
  
"Even without your coat?" she wanted to know, feeling slightly guilty she had taken his bullet proof, super cool leather jacket from him.  
  
"Yes, now go!" he ordered harshly. Knowing better than to mess with that tone of voice, Kagome began to trot slowly backwards, wondering if she should call for backup or something.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Yura chuckled, summoning up a dense collection hair strands behind Kagome to block the girl's escape rout like a wall. Kagome cried out in fear and dodged them as they rushed at her, Inuyasha roaring in fury and launching himself at Yura as Kagome tried to make it to safety.  
  
"Stop it!" He ordered irately, his long claws sweeping forward to make an angry swipe at the woman. Fangs bared, Inuyasha decided right then and there that he wasn't going to let Yura leave alive this time around. He had been satisfied with her incarceration last time, but apparently that sort of punishment didn't last long with this woman, and she needed to be stopped. Leaping backwards, Yura deftly avoided all of Inuyasha's attacks, a small smile placed onto her features.  
  
"Oh Inuyasha, do you have a soft spot for this girl?" Yura giggled cruelly as she dodged another punch.  
  
"Shut UP!" Inuyasha ordered, leaping high into the air in the blink of an eye, and startling the female demon with his extraordinary speed.  
  
"What?" Yura asked, glancing upwards and trying to see where the hanyou had gone off too. She let out a light gasp when she realized he had landed silently behind her, and had then proceeded to run her through with one of his powerful arms, creating a particularly large whole in her abdomen.  
  
"Ohmigod!" Kagome screamed, covering her mouth as she watched Yura casually glance at Inuyasha's claws sticking out of the other side of her stomach, thick streams of blood running off the half demon's hand. She felt the bile rise to her mouth, and wondered how Inuyasha had the stomach to do that.  
  
"Got you, bitch," Inuyasha said triumphantly, yanking his hand out, and ready for Yura's inevitable surrender. No one could survive being impaled through the stomach-  
  
"I don't think so." Yura laughed gaily, turning on her heal to grab Inuyasha around the neck, and then hold him a foot off the ground, giving off an impressive show of strength, taking him completely by surprise.  
  
-Except for really strong, freak demons like Yura, of course.  
  
"Arghh." Inuyasha growled, grasping Yura's wrist, who didn't even look the least bit perturbed over the fact that she was currently loosing buckets of blood from the wound in her stomach, and trying to yank her hand away from his neck. It didn't seem to be working, and Yura was apparently immune to pain.  
  
'Last time I just drugged her before she could do much harm. but it looks like Yura's got a lot more up her sleeve than we first imagined.' Inuyasha thought heatedly.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, putting her hands to her face, eyes wide. How could Yura stand after that attack!? What kind of a demon was she?  
  
"Kagome!" Inuyasha choked. "Look in the coat! Look in the coat! I brought you. aghhh." Inuyasha gurgled as Yura tightened her grip around his throat.  
  
As Kagome looked to the inside of the coat for the unspecified item Inuyasha had apparently brought for her, Yura grabbed the sword from her waist once more - smiling entrancingly. just before she plunged it into Inuyasha's side, taking satisfaction in his cry of pain. Blood immediately began to seep through his white shirt, and his hands began to shake uncontrollably.  
  
"Ah!" he gasped, eyes going wide as he was dropped to the ground, the sword being swiftly wrenched out of him. He wasn't as good with this whole quick recovery thing as Yura apparently was. "Damn."  
  
"My, this is fun! And now I will finally have your hair. Inuyasha." Yura sighed, looking down on the vulnerable hanyou. "I've been waiting to have these silver locks for my collection for so long." she purred, leaning forward and wrapping one finger around a lock of his glimmering mane. Head lowered, Inuyasha growled forebodingly.  
  
"Don't get your hopes up, you witch." he said darkly. Then, as quick as a snake, his arm shot up and slashed at Yura's right side with one powerful blow. Instantly the arm holding the demon's sword was ripped off, Yura making a vague, startled sound in the back of her throat as her right arm was plucked from her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed, and she made a little pouting face that forced Inuyasha to recoil.  
  
"Now. That wasn't very nice," she commented simply, as her hair moved around her to pick up the detached arm, and let it move as though it were still connected to Yura's body, the sword clutched firmly in its hand as it made a swooping motion as to attack Inuyasha.  
  
The agent let his jaw drop - when did it end?  
  
Meanwhile, Kagome had found what Inuyasha had brought for her to use in her defense, and almost let out a groan of frustration.  
  
"A bow and arrows? Well gee golly wiz Inuyasha, thanks," she growled, taking out the bow and trying to aim an arrow at Yura's back. She looked up at the fighting couple long enough to watch Inuyasha brutally rip Yura's arm off. Kagome made a little choking sound and averted her gaze, lowering the arrow.  
  
Sure, she had taken archery lessons in high school, but how far would that take her when fighting Yura? The woman had already reclaimed her arm, her hair propelling it towards Inuyasha, once again apparently impervious to the throbbing pain that any normal person would feel when being dismembered. She was even smiling cruelly again. How could Kagome's puny arrows have any affect on Yura?  
  
But the evil woman had just stabbed Inuyasha, and Kagome was determined not to leave him for dead when he had now saved her sorry butt twice. She couldn't let her partner be killed when she was around to do something about it!  
  
Inuyasha threw himself to the side, clutching his deep wound as Yura's alienated arm went flying past him, the sword just barely missing his ear.  
  
'Okay. so she can't be defeated the conventional way.' he thought, getting to his feet and beginning to leap away from the arm as Yura stood in place, the cavernous hole in her stomach in plain sight, giggling to herself as she watched Inuyasha be chased about. 'I'll just have to take her head off. I guess.'  
  
"Yura!" Kagome screamed, letting an arrow fly. Yura turned around, just in time to have the arrow slice her through the wrist, admittedly not the spot Kagome had been aiming for, frowning as she watched the arrow give off a shiny pink light and dissolve the skin around her hand, until it separated from the rest of her arm and fell with a wet, heavy sound to the round. Bringing her stub of an arm up to examine the still shimmering wound, Yura bit her lip.  
  
"You have the power to purify," she said accusingly at Kagome. "I think I see now why Naraku wants you dead. You will have to go," the now completely hand-less woman said casually, her other hand, now also suspended by hair, doing a one handed cat's cradle that forced a great deal of deadly hair to create a hostile spiral of thick tresses around the scared college student. Kagome let out a cry of fear; clutching her bow to her as the hair swallowed her up and she could no longer see anything but the dark cluster of strands trying to suffocate her. She made a desperate clawing motion and was rewarded with a deep slash across her finger. It seemed as though she was quite trapped.  
  
"Kagome!!" Inuyasha yelled, eyes wide as Kagome disappeared from sight, her delicate mortal flesh most likely giving her minimal protection. No! This couldn't happen! He could loose another partner so quickly-!  
  
"Sorry Inuyasha. you look crushed," Yura commented, cocking her head thoughtfully. "Oh well. Don't worry. You can join her, if you like," she offered charitably. "Here, let me help you along."  
  
Leaping forward, with her arm holding the sword in front of her, Yura began to attack the furious Inuyasha once more, smiling maliciously as he appeared to let his temper get the better of him. It really did hurt him to loose that girl. how cute. Flipping backwards, and landing in a crouch, Inuyasha reached for the sword held in the ancient looking scabbard at his side, growling ominously. She would PAY.  
  
"Uh uh uh!" Yura warned, letting her hair zip forward to grab an unwitting Inuyasha around the wrist. "I don't think it would be a good idea to get THAT sword out. I've heard the stories." she said slyly, Inuyasha wishing, more than ever, that he too could see the hair as he felt himself become thoroughly entangled in it. Before he knew it he was being held in a spread eagle position, suspended on all sides by Yura's cursed hair.  
  
'Whatever, it's not as though I can USE the sword, anyway,' he thought darkly, an air of depression hanging off him. Dammit all.  
  
"Now. what would you prefer? A slow death? Or a quick one." Yura wondered innocently, waltzing up to her restrained pray, dripping with dark blood, but otherwise looking no worse for the wear- while Inuyasha was writhing in pain from having the stab wound in his side being stretched out uncomfortably.  
  
"What kind of a stupid question is that?" Inuyasha wanted to know, as Yura stopped in front of him.  
  
"I don't know." Yura said, trailing off as her crimson tinted eyes widened, and she looked off into the distance. "La!" she gasped, spinning on her heal.  
  
'What is she doing?' Inuyasha wondered, narrowing his own golden eyes suspiciously.  
  
"Girl! What do you think you're doing!?" Yura shrieked, as she spotted Kagome shimmying up the tree the demon had previously occupied.  
  
"Ugh." Kagome replied, trembling with effort as she continued to get to the higher branches of the large oak. Behind her, the nest of hair that had entrapped her previously had a rather large hole in it, the edges of which were dripping with pink, purifying miko magic.  
  
'Of course. my leather jacket saved her! And her miko powers freed her,' Inuyasha realized, a broad smile coming over his face as he watched a very much alive Kagome make it to the top of the tree. He didn't know why, but seeing Kagome alive made his heart rest easier. He was truly relieved to have her back, and was glad this girl appeared to be a survivor, who knew how to use her strengths to her benefit. Clever.  
  
"Girl! I asked you a question!" Yura yelled, looking very unruffled as she let the hand hanging near her left ear hurl her sword at Kagome.  
  
"Look out!" Inuyasha yelled, still trapped.  
  
"Eeek!" Kagome, who had indeed burned her way out of her prison with miko magic, screamed, dodging the sword. It was soon embedded in the tree, Yura's hand trying to wrench it out of the bark. Kagome frowned deeply and (closing her eyes.) grabbed Yura's hand, unable to watch as a pink aura formed around her fingers and burned at the limb, as she had known it would. Apparently, demons couldn't take her miko powers, and she was thankful for it.  
  
"Damn you!" Yura screeched as her now useless hand dropped to the ground, sizzling. Kagome smiled grimly and continued to scale the tree.  
  
She didn't know what it was. but. after she had freed herself from her rather hairy prison, Kagome had suddenly sensed something. odd. in the tree Yura had been sitting in just minutes before. It nagged at her until the newly appointed miko found herself sprinting towards the tall form, keeping both eyes peeled for anything unusual.  
  
"There's nothing there! What do you think you're doing!?" Yura continued to yell, leaping onto a lone strand of hair and preparing to swing over to the troublesome girl. What the hell was she trying to pull!? How could she- But before she could reach Kagome, Inuyasha decided to take some initiative.  
  
"If there's nothing there Yura, why are you so freaked out about it?!" he sniggered, tensing his muscles, before snapping the hairs keeping him trapped with a swift, jerking motion, and then proceeding leaping gracefully to the ground. Yura looked down at him with a horrified expression. Well, things had apparently taken a nasty turn for the demon.  
  
"You!" she accused, snarling at the FBI agent. Whipping the sword at his waist out of the scabbard, revealing the same old, rusty blade Kagome had seen him wave at Naraku at the old apartment building, Inuyasha got a predatory look in his eye. Kagome was on to something, and he loved to see Yura squirm. Best to distract the demon some more and keep her mind off Kagome.  
  
Meanwhile, said miko had spotted something in the tree.  
  
It was a . skull.  
  
"Figures," Kagome sighed, daintily picking up the skull and looking it over carefully. Her miko senses were going haywire just staring at it, but she couldn't figure out how it related to Yura.  
  
"NO!" Yura screamed gutturally, rushing at Kagome once she spotted the girl holding the pearly white skull, that had a few dead hairs still attached to its crown. Her eyes had widened terribly, and her mouth hung open as she commanded a group of hair to start forward and aim for Kagome's neck. Kagome screamed, clutching the skull to her, as she realized she had nowhere to jump to, besides down- at which point she would undoubtedly break both her legs. Luckily, Kagome didn't have to make that big decision about what she would rather be - dead or legless - because it was at that point that Inuyasha did something. different.  
  
"STOP YURA!" he commanded in a deep growl, leaping after the demon woman as she attempted to murder his partner, and swung the blade - the Tetsusaiga- the blade that he had never been able to quite master - the blade that had belonged to his father, more or less - the blade that was feared by many a demon for its old reputation, and the blade that. suddenly began to glow oddly. Distracted, Yura glanced back, wondering what could be radiating that powerful aura behind her, nearly letting go of the hair that supported her as she spotted Inuyasha's infamous Tetsusaiga start to transform from an old, corroded and weak blade, into something larger, more powerful, and cleaner.  
  
"YAAA!" Inuyasha gave off a great war cry as he expertly swung the newly formed blade at Yura, smiling in satisfaction as she finally gave out a cry of surprise, bright red blood gushing out of her back, and then collapsing to the ground where she sat, shaking and angry. A newly formed, deep slash made it's way down her back.  
  
"All right Inuyasha!" Kagome cheered from the tree, the hair that had been previously flying at her going limp and collapsing to the ground near Yura.  
  
"I- I can't believe it." Inuyasha sputtered, ignoring the throbbing pain he felt emanating from his side long enough to marvel at his master blade. He had been trying to figure this thing out for ages! And now. now this was what he had been aiming for. The Tetsusaiga, able to kill a hundred demons with one blow. Well. Maybe he couldn't pull THAT little trick off just yet, but with a little more practice. Wait till he told Miroku about this!  
  
'What was it about this situation that finally got the Tetsusaiga to transform into the 'Steel Cleaving Fang?'' The half demon wondered distantly, still staring at his gleaming white blade with awe. 'Was it. this girl? Was it Kagome?' However, Inuyasha was given no more time to think about this, as he felt something sharp and deadly wrap around his neck, with a flick of Yura's detached hand.  
  
"Move and I'll snap your neck off, boy. I know that demon skin is thicker than a mortals, but you won't be able to survive this blow." Yura said darkly, having shakily gotten back to her feet, and staring sadistically at the agent she now had right under her thumb. Inuyasha made a surprised choking sound as he cursed himself profusely for being distracted, and getting into this susceptible position. If only he could see the hair!  
  
From the tree Kagome gasped harshly, eyes wide as she watched little rivulets of blood begin to poor down Inuyasha's neck. He winced, his hand gripping his sword tightly, not close enough to make an effective swing at Yura, unfortunately. Smiling, Yura, bleeding from just about every crevice of her body, turned to look up at the college student.  
  
"Well, what will it be?" she called up to Kagome. "Your partner, or that skull?"  
  
Well, obviously Inuyasha came first, but - but Kagome had a feeling there was more to this situation than met the eye. Why was this skull so important to Yura? Why was she so panicked that Kagome now had it in her possession, and why did Yura bring it with her at all? Kagome's eyes widened as something hit her, and she had a small, spiritual epiphany, her miko powers leading her as she reached for an arrow.  
  
"What are you going to do girl? Shoot me?" Yura laughed, watching Kagome's actions critically. Kagome said nothing; quickly taking the arrow and never letting her eyes stray away from Yura. She knew what to do. She could feel it in her blood.  
  
"Dammit girl! What do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha choked, shaking a bit. Was her plan to let Yura kill him? He really COULDN'T survive if Yura decided to behead him now!  
  
Then, swiftly, proficiently, and while closing her eyes and praying for the best, deciding she would never forgive herself if she let Inuyasha get killed- Kagome plunged the arrow into the skull placed in her lap with all of the strength she possessed- sighing in relief as she heard a satisfying crack.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Yura howled, as the skull split into two, and her vision began to go dark. Inuyasha watched, barely noticing as the hairs around his neck, as well as all the other that had wrapped themselves around the park, disappeared into thin air, as Yura continued to scream at the top of her lungs, her body fading into nothing as a black power seemed to eat her from the inside out. She was dying. Kagome had done it.  
  
She had killed Yura.  
  
And when the echoes of Yura's scream had finally faded, and there was nothing left of her but her little leather outfit and matching headband, Inuyasha let himself crack a weak smile. His gaze quickly traveled up to his partner, still sitting in the tree and watching the space where Yura had just been, mouth hanging open. And in her hand, from inside the skull, she held a cracked comb. A cracked comb that had held Yura's soul.  
  
"You're a fucking genius!" Inuyasha hooted, leaping up into the tree with a single bound, his precious Tetsusaiga still in hand, and throwing his free arm around Kagome's shoulder as he gave her an enthusiastic hug.  
  
"I-I am?" the shell-shocked girl stuttered weakly. Had she really just done that?  
  
"Yes! You definitely are. I would have never been able to kill that damned woman by just slashing at her some more. How did you know that Yura held her soul in that comb?" Inuyasha pressed. Kagome, blushing from Inuyasha's rare, animated compliments, despite the fact that she felt no pride over her first demon kill, replied hesitantly.  
  
"Well, I just felt it. inside me." she explained lamely, not really sure how to describe the sensation of just KNOWING what to do. "My miko senses or whatever were just telling me that there was something important up here. and then they told me to destroy this comb. It was all luck, really," she admitted.  
  
"Well, thanks, in any case," Inuyasha sighed, now sitting next to her, and smiling broadly. Finally! That battle had gone on just a little too long for his liking, and there had been just a few too many close calls.  
  
"Yeah, and you and your sword weren't half bad either. What's up with it, any- Oh my God!" Kagome suddenly gasped, quickly forgetting about the new Tetsusaiga, which she noticed had reverted back to its old form, and was now nothing but a rusty blade, as she spotted Inuyasha's wound. The slash that went all the way through to the other side of his back. it looked notably painful, and Kagome wondered how he was holding up so well.  
  
'But he can heal really fast, like last time with Naraku.' she remembered dimly, touching the blood soaked cloth of Inuyasha's shirt delicately, frowning. Inuyasha began to look vaguely uncomfortable, not used to people fawning over his wounds.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing!" he growled, shooing Kagome's hands away.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I know you can heal fast, but I still think I should bandage this wound!"  
  
"I'll be fine," he insisted, folding his arms resolutely. Kagome raised an eyebrow, and deciding she could press the matter later. Right now, she was really too exhausted to do anything besides maybe stare blankly into the distance for a while.  
  
"Inuyasha." she mumbled softly, letting her head drop onto the muscular hanyou's shoulder- the unwounded one, of course.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, tensing as he felt Kagome's soft, raven hair, brush up against his skin. She was so close.  
  
"How did you find me?" she wanted to know. Why HAD Inuyasha come to her rescue, as she had wanted him to? It seemed too perfect - not that she didn't appreciate it, and all.  
  
"Well, you called me," Inuyasha admitted hesitantly.  
  
"Called you?" Kagome asked, confused.  
  
"I heard you. inside my head. and you lead me here," Inuyasha continued, realizing he sounded like a nutcase. But - it was the truth.  
  
'Oh my God. when I prayed for Inuyasha to come save me. he heard!?' the girl gasped, putting a hand to her mouth and staring at her lap.  
  
"It must have been my miko magic," the girl decided, smiling lightly and relaxing. "You know - this whole being a powerful priestess thing isn't so bad! It's saved me a lot of times now." she pointed out tiredly. "I should. really thank. Kaede and. Miroku." Inuyasha gave off a rare, fond smile as he watched Kagome's breathing begin to fall into an even pattern. Poor human. She was probably exhausted. And she deserved to have a good sleep after all this.  
  
Actually, it was slightly disturbing that Naraku had gotten Yura to come after Kagome. Why had the new addition to the demon FBI suddenly become a target for this killer? Was it because of her purifying abilities? He thought not. more likely; it was to get under Inuyasha's skin. And to weaken and divide the forces that were trying to stop the sniveling monster. Inuyasha frowned and glanced at Kagome once more. he wouldn't let her be hurt, especially when it was partially his fault she was now tangled in up in this mess. She hadn't wanted to join the FBI, and she shouldn't have to be hurt because of it. He frowned lightly as he noticed numerous cuts scattering her form, noting how she hadn't complained about any of them, and instead chose to dote over his own wounds. What an odd girl.  
  
Unconsciously, Inuyasha raised his hand to wipe away a stray drop of blood that had come from the paper-thin slice across her cheek. She was really very pretty. and she looked. so much like. Kikyo.  
  
"OHMIGOD!" Kagome abruptly shrieked, sitting straight up and scaring Inuyasha so that he quickly zipped to the other side of branch.  
  
.And yet she was most definitely not the former Priestess, in so many ways.  
  
"W-what is it?" Inuyasha asked, placing a hand to his chest and flattening his ears. Ye gads that girl could scream.  
  
"Shippou! I totally forgot! I left him alone at the apartment! He's going to be so scared! Oh God this is terrible!" Kagome looked terribly flustered, biting her lip and frowning deeply as she tried to shimmy her way back down the tree, wondering just how far she was from her apartment now. not even one night with the kitsune and already she was acting like a terrible mother figure!  
  
Kagome let out a small gasp as she felt Inuyasha gently grab her around the waist, and hoist her effortlessly onto his back. The girl made a little squeaking sound as she looped her arms around his neck, surprised. What was he.  
  
"Come on, I'll give you a ride home," he joked, leaping from the tree, and traveling in the direction of Kagome's apartment.  
  
"Oh you don't have to do this. really." Kagome said, closing her eyes and trying not to focus on the fact that the physically enhanced hanyou was leaping from rooftop to rooftop at inhumanly fast speeds. "Really."  
  
"No, it's all right. The office is this way anyway, and I guess I'm going to need to check in with the agents investigating Yura now. God. I would have called for backup or something if your cry for help hadn't taken me by surprise," he admitted, wincing a little as he landed badly on a roof and felt a biting pain shoot up his side. Kagome frowned, trying to get a look at Inuyasha's face from her place on his back.  
  
"Maybe you should make a pit stop at my apartment and get bandaged up, hm? You don't have to pretend getting run through with a sword doesn't hurt." She added.  
  
"But it doesn't for a hanyou!. well, not really," he huffed, testosterone levels desperately trying to reach a comfortable level of manliness. He didn't need to be babied! Kagome sighed - she knew his kind.  
  
"Okay, how about this - it would make ME feel better if you would come inside and let me clean your gash. All right?" she tried. This seemed to sit better with Inuyasha's masculine pride.  
  
"We'll see." Translation? Yes. Okay. You win already.  
  
The second the duo landed on Kagome's fire escape, Kagome threw the window open and jumped into her bedroom, eyes darting around frantically in search of her tiny charge.  
  
"Shippou!" she called into the apartment, looking immensely worried. What would Kaede say if she LOST Shippou? However, Kagome needn't have worried, because at that moment a particularly anxious looking kitsune hopped into the room, leaping into Kagome's arms and crying piteously.  
  
"I thought you'd left me!!" Shippou sobbed, burying his head in Kagome's chest. Kagome's features immediately softened, and she petted Shippou's head comfortingly.  
  
"Oh. don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I'm sorry." Kagome cooed, as Shippou appeared to gradually calm down after being subjected to her soothing aura. Sniffling, he peered over the girl's shoulder, where he spotted an awkward looking Inuyasha still standing by the window, hands stuffed in his pockets.  
  
"You." Shippou hissed accusingly. "What are YOU doing in Kagome's home?"  
  
"None of your business, brat," Inuyasha tactfully shot back. Kagome sighed and exited the room, not needing Inuyasha to upset the baby demon once more. She had just settled his nerves, and didn't need him getting into a fight.  
  
"Um." Inuyasha said hesitantly, wondering if he should follow Kagome, or just leave. He wasn't overly comfortable hanging around in her apartment.  
  
"Come on." Kagome called as she entered the kitchen, groaning as she realized she STILL didn't have any food. "I'll treat your wounds as soon as we've had something to eat. Um. you want something?" she asked politely.  
  
"What do you have?"  
  
".Not much." Kagome admitted.  
  
"No, I got stuff," Shippou said casually.  
  
"What?" Kagome asked quickly, whirling around to look at the little Kitsune, now sitting on a stool in the kitchen, swinging his tiny feet around innocently.  
  
"Yeah, well, I got really hungry. so I just went out and got some ramen for myself," he admitted. "I found some money on your dresser."  
  
"But. I thought you were really young!" Kagome said, unable to understand how someone as tiny as Shippou could actually REACH the ramen in the supermarket.  
  
"I told you, demon children mature faster than human ones," Shippou reminded her as Kagome put a pot of water on the stove, shaking her head.  
  
"Yeah but."  
  
"He's a kitsune Kagome, they have their ways," Inuyasha said sagely, falling onto the couch. Not at all sure what he was talking about, Kagome decided to go get some bandages for her partner while the water was starting to boil.  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha, thanks for your jacket," Kagome said kindly, removing the big leather jacket and laying it next to Inuyasha on the couch. "It really helped,"  
  
"Don't mention it," Inuyasha said, averting his gaze as he unbuttoned his shirt for Kagome, so she could get a better look at the wound. She neatly placed her first aid box on a table near the couch, quickly opening it and at least looking like she had a vague idea of what she was doing.  
  
"Ohhh. that looks like it HURTS!" Shippou said, eyeing the injury with raised eyebrows. "What happened to you?"  
  
"I um. fell down the stairs," Inuyasha said, his expression totally serious.  
  
"Uh hu. and that's what made Kagome two hours late?"  
  
"Yes. Definitely. That would be correct - because it was a really BAD fall!" Kagome enthused, using a dampened washcloth to carefully clean the dried blood around and in the wound. While she was having doubts about just how innocent Shippou really was, there truly was no reason to scare him with tales about Yura. The woman had freaked her out, personally, and she didn't want Shippou staying up with nightmares.  
  
"Riight," Shippou said, rolling his eyes and going to add the ramen into the now boiling water.  
  
"Be careful Shippou!" Kagome called to the little demon, satisfied that the wound was thoroughly cleansed, and taking out a length of bandage. "Say Inuyasha." Kagome commented after a moment, wrapping the bandage around Inuyasha's chest carefully, and trying to ignore the fact that he was very well sculpted. God. six packs were a beautiful thing. "What should we tell everyone? I mean. shouldn't we report this like, now?" Kagome asked, a bit confused as to what the protocol was for being attacked by fugitive convicts and then killing them.  
  
"Well, I'm going to head over to headquarters right now and leave some messages. But, I mean. you're not going to be in trouble for killing her, if that's what your worried about. I would say this was most definitely an act of self defense, AND were officers of the law, so we're doubly safe,"  
  
"Ohh. I'm an officer of the law?" Kagome giggled excitedly, putting the extra length of bandage away, and snapping the first aid case back up.  
  
"Not exactly. You're. temporarily assisting us on a case, so I don't think that makes you a real agent," Inuyasha pointed out.  
  
"Spoilsport."  
  
"Whatever. But, um, thanks . for bandaging me up, and everything. It feels better," the hanyou admitted sheepishly, not used to thanking people very much for, well, anything. But Kagome was one of those rare people where it felt totally okay to thank her for anything she did, because she was just so. sweet.  
  
"Anytime, partner," she said happily, giving off a breathtaking smile as Shippou hopped up to the duo with a pot of ramen that, even though his arms were incredibly tiny, he seemed to be holding with relative ease.  
  
"Hey - you guys want some? Or would you prefer to stare at one another all night? Because we could do that."  
  
*  
  
Around forty minutes later Kagome found herself fondly gazing at the little, surprisingly sharp, kitsune, as he slept peacefully in the pullout couch bed - dead to the world. On his face he wore a small, contented smile, and Kagome got the sense that he was really at ease in her apartment. Good.  
  
"Well, it's been an interesting night, if nothing else," Kagome sighed, collapsing into a chair and smiling sleepily at her hanyou partner as he put his empty ramen bowl into the dishwasher. How considerate of him.  
  
"Yeah, and it's not even over for me. YOU don't have to go down to headquarters and face a bunch of pissed off agents, still trying to figure out where the hell Yura is," Kagome laughed in agreement, sympathetic but not willing to make the trek to the FBI offices with Inuyasha - she wasn't THAT nice.  
  
"Sorry," she mumbled sleepily, absently touching one of the many band- aids covering the tiny lacerations that decorated her body. She hadn't thought much of her little cuts, but Inuyasha and Shippou had insisted she tend to her own wounds so that they didn't get infected and eventually scar. Luckily, Kagome was feeling a minimal amount of pain. It just felt more as though she had encountered a very angry book, and had been brutally sliced numerous times by its pages of doom.  
  
"Hey. Kagome, I meant what I said before. Thanks. For everything. I couldn't have gotten rid of Yura without you," Inuyasha said after a moment of struggling with himself, awkwardly running his claws through his hair and avoiding looking Kagome directly in the eyes. He didn't think he had ever complimented or thanked anyone this much in his LIFE. Not even his ex- partner.  
  
"Well, thank you too, for saving my life - many times over." Kagome replied kindly, looking up at Inuyasha, who had once again adorned his spiffy leather jacket and was preparing to take off into the night. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting of her small, stuffed apartment, but she could have sworn the tough agent had an almost affectionate look on his face. How cute. "And good luck, with the mean agents back at.. HQ." At this point the twenty year old was trailing off though, her eyes firmly sliding shut almost involuntarily. Inuyasha sighed as he looked down upon the girl, realizing she had fallen asleep on him for the second time that night, but finding it physically impossible to frown at her as he realized she was unconscious. He just couldn't get mad at Kagome when she looked so adorable, sleeping with her head on her shoulder, gently snoring.  
  
Unable to resist, Inuyasha lifted Kagome gently into his arms, swiftly heading in the direction of her room. Carefully kicking the door open, and shifting his shoulder against the light switch until it came on, he placed the girl on her bed. Deciding she looked a little cold, just sprawled out like that all alone, he threw a quilt over her, and then stepped back to look at his handy work. Good. She was still sleeping.  
  
And suddenly she looked pretty. really pretty.  
  
So, she wasn't like Kikyo, his partner from days of old. But, Kikyo was the dreaded ex! It was a good thing Kagome didn't act like her! And, besides, he was starting to really like this girl, who was proving to be a good partner - if not exactly cut out for the world of crime fighting. Why should he want her to be like Kikyo? Kikyo had been cold and serious and mysterious and powerful. where as Kagome was kind, and warm and funny and compassionate.  
  
He decided he rather liked her.  
  
So, giving off a truly happy smile for the first time in a long while, the twenty-five year old quietly slid open the window and slipped out into the cold night, easily jumping from roof to roof on his way to the office.  
  
*  
  
"Man Kagome, I still can't believe that Yura came after YOU!" Miroku cried, throwing his arms up as he walked Kagome to Kaede's office, early the next morning. Kagome yawned in acknowledgment, drowsily going over her schedule for the day, and listening to Miroku's rant with only one ear. She was still extremely exhausted from her activities last night, and had been almost relieved when she had relinquished Shippou over to another agent to be cared for, earlier, seeing as he apparently had a surplus of energy just waiting to be used that she simply couldn't deal with. "I mean, you could have been killed!"  
  
Meet with Kaede to talk about attack. and payments. and Shippou.  
  
"And the fact that SHE was sent by Naraku? It's crazy!"  
  
Stay until 2:00 at office and then head over to class at the university.  
  
"You're incredibly lucky you were able to utilize your miko powers to call Inuyasha- I had no idea you were excelling this quickly with your skills as a priestess."  
  
Call Mom and deter her from coming over later that night.  
  
"But, you know, we're all worried about you and Naraku now,"  
  
Pick up Shippou- feed him dinner.  
  
"Kaede said she's going to be taking some extreme measures to make sure you're not harmed by him further."  
  
Got to sleep- waitasec. Extreme measures?  
  
"What sort of extreme measures?" Kagome asked curiously, looking the dashing priest in the eye.  
  
"I don't know, she didn't go into it, but she looked really serious. I'd be worried if I were you, maybe," the priest admitted somberly.  
  
"Perfect," Kagome muttered, knocking on Kaede's door, having reached her office. Miroku waved goodbye and continued on his way down the hall, as Kagome quickly stepped into the well-furnished room, admittedly a bit worried. What sort of things did Kaede plan to do in order to ensure Kagome's safety? She didn't want to look conspicuous around family and friends, but.  
  
"Ah, Kagome, you're here. Good." Kaede said, as she watched the younger woman enter the room and cautiously take a seat in front of her desk. Kaede pushed aside the mountain of paper worked stacked unpromisingly in front of her, so she could properly look Kagome in the eye. "You are all right after last night, aren't you?" the detective started off with, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.  
  
"Yes. um, Inuyasha took care of me," Kagome assured the woman. Kaede got an odd look on her face for a second, before nodding.  
  
"Wonderful. So, I assume you realize this means you're going to have to hand in another report. I've already heard the tale from Inuyasha - it sounded like a real bloodbath, and I'm sorry, but I'd love to read what happened from your point of view. Especially with all of those miko tricks you were pulling. You've advanced, haven't you?" the woman asked.  
  
"I suppose. but it's not as though I have any real control," Kagome admitted with a sigh. "I only seem to be able to use purifying powers when I'm near death."  
  
"Better than never," Kaede pointed out. "Do you think anything happened last night that's worth bringing up with me now?"  
  
"Actually, there was that bit about Naraku sending Yura after me..." Kagome said tentatively. At this Kaede got a grave expression on her face and folded her arms with a frown. "It's not like I'm scared or anything, you know!" Kagome quickly assured the detective.  
  
"I'm sure you're not, but I'M still worried about all this. I don't know if I'd be able to forgive myself if I let you get hurt out there - especially when we've practically forced you into this job," Kaede added with a sad scowl.  
  
"Oh, it's all right. really." Kagome said, shrugging. "You warned me about the consequences of taking a dangerous job like this when I first agreed to help out in bringing in Naraku."  
  
"Yes, but I still want to make sure you are kept safe while working with us, and do something that would put my mind at ease - something that would most definitely protect you from Naraku if you were to be involved in an attack like that again. Already last night was cutting it too close, so I want to have something that will ensure your safety 24/7," Kagome, although still sticking by her fears that this new development might alert friends and family to the fact that her job was a bit abnormal, had to admit that Kaede's idea was sounding rather appealing. Her encounter with Yura HAD been frightening, and it would be nice to have the knowledge that it wouldn't happen again. or that she had at least had some form of protection if it did happen.  
  
"This sounds okay to me, I guess. but what do you plan on doing?" Kagome said flatly.  
  
"Kagome, you are a valuable asset to our investigation now, and your safety means very much to us. I know that it would be a very good thing for Naraku if you were to be taken out of the picture, so I only want to do what will make sure you are NEVER taken out of the picture," Kaede said seriously, leaning forward, the light streaming in from the large window behind her darkening her figure. Kagome frowned and nodded, completely agreeing with Kaede. That's right! She had to stay in the picture! Yes!  
  
"So, what are we going to do?" Kagome pressed again.  
  
"Well. I know it's a hassle what with you living with Shippou now, so this arrangement might actually help." Kaede said. "But what I want to do is. I think what would be best for you at this point in time would be to."  
  
"Have Inuyasha move into your apartment as well,"  
  
There was a long, pregnant pause, during which Kagome sat, staring at the elderly detective in front of her with wide eyes and a disbelieving expression. Kaede looked totally relaxed, patiently waiting for the girls' reaction.  
  
"No." Kagome said, regaining control of her vocal cords. "No. I think I'm going to have to draw the line there. Yeah. No. No. We're not doing that."  
  
Kaede's only reaction was to frown ominously.  
  
*  
  
A/N-  
  
Sorry I had to cut this chapter short, but I really should be working on other fics! I don't know if this story is going to go on hiatus for real now, but we'll see. I just can't seem to leave it alone! And this was a pretty nasty cliffhanger, so I might update just because I feel bad about it.  
  
. Kaede seems to be constantly meddling in Kagome's life, and Kagome keeps rolling over for her. so I don't really know what's going to happen next. Well, actually, I kinda do. I know most of you would just love it if Inuyasha and Kagome ended up living together, so I'll do my best, just for you. Anywho, I would really appreciate if you would all review and voice your opinions because I really do take them into account when I write chapters .especially because I have no idea where this story is really going - I only know how it's going to end, at this point. And I keep changing my mind about that, as well!  
  
Well, enough rambling - go and review! Thanks for reading,  
  
Your friend, Rio Grande. 


	6. Swordplay

Ah. such kind reviews. it's all going to my head!  
  
Anywho, before we start this chapter (Yes - another one!) I would like to address some things that you readers brought up, and that should be attended to seeing as you were so nice as to mention them.  
  
The matter of the bow and arrow fitting into Inuyasha's leather jacket. (Yes, this will be the new red, fire rat jacket. And yes. It is cool.) Okay, so, I mentioned that this jacket is fairly big - I believe I pointed out it went down to the back of Inuyasha's knees, so I was thinking the bow wasn't really in his pocket, but more like inside the jacket. Like, on the inside of it. like when people are selling things and they have them on the inside of their trench coats. Okay. Maybe that made sense to me because I live in Brooklyn. Er. sorry for the confusion. But no dimensional pockets.  
  
I know this is old, but. the Duracell Bunny! Not the Energizer Bunny. sorry!  
  
This is also old - but I forgot to mention it before, and since almost everyone who reviewed was considerate enough to give in their two cents about the topic - I would like to bring up the matter of Kikyo and Hell.  
  
Now, while there were numerous ideas about the idea of what happened to Kikyo when she died (It was almost like I started a forum!.. Almost!) I decided to go with the one where the very concept of Hell is different in Japan, and the translation probably screwed it all up a little. Kikyo was most likely not dwelling in a place with fire and brimstone, and this does, in fact, ruin the entire plot for my other story I was maybe thinking of starting. (It was going to be SO cool! Kikyo dies and Kagome is accidentally dragged to Hell with her because they share a soul or something, and so now Kikyo and Kagome have to fend for themselves in the underworld as Inuyasha tries to find a way to bring them back to the land of the living - all the while the two mikos are becoming sort of friends, simultaneously wondering WHO deserves to end up with their favorite hanyou. But will they kill each other first!? - Nifty, no?)  
  
Anywho, enough babble, I know you don't really care.. Please read and review, I don't own Inuyasha, and enjoy!  
  
*  
  
Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Six: Swordplay  
  
*  
  
Kagome abruptly stood, her posture stiff and unwelcoming. Enough was enough.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that, Detective Kaede," she said, addressing the old woman formally as to seem more cold. Anyone who knew Kagome Higurashi even distantly knew instantly that she was a kind, compassionate type of person. but one had to draw the line SOMEwhere. She couldn't have her life controlled like this.  
  
"But Kagome, think of the risk you're in-!" Kaede started, looking up at the girl almost pleadingly, begging her to understand her position.  
  
"As a student, I can't have this job completely take over my life, and I think having my partner LIVING with me is probably going to work against me in that department. Plus, Inuyasha's a guy, and living with him will make all of my friends and family suspicious - not to mention he's also not human, which will make everyone in the world suspicious.  
  
"You're right, I am probably in a great deal of danger, but just have surveillance cars check up on my building every now and then if you truly believe it's that serious - okay? I think I can probably take care of myself with these new super miko powers, too. Don't worry about me, or Shippou. I'll be good. I'll be fine. I don't need to have Inuyasha watching me 24/7," At this point, Kagome understood she was babbling, however she was also panicking a great deal, so there wasn't much she could do about it.  
  
Kaede rubbed her head slowly, frowning deeply and sighing. "I think you're making a big mistake by turning this offer down. It's in your best interests," she said slowly, after a minute. Kagome shook her head, already starting to back out of the room.  
  
"No, I think this is all probably for the better." She admitted.  
  
"But Kagome-"  
  
"I'm sorry but I just can't deal with this okay?!" Kagome finally cried, abruptly turning towards the door and throwing it open. "This is ridiculous! I can't be living with some guy I hardly know - Naraku or no! I can do fine on my own!"  
  
Breathing hard, Kagome left the office; gently closing the door behind her (Kagome simply didn't slam doors. She found it obnoxious.) holding her head and biting her lip. Okay. All right. She had just totally flipped out on her . more or less. boss back in there. Which meant she should probably get to work on those meditative practices she had been doing with Miroku lately since she obviously hadn't gotten the gist of them yet. Very well, okay. She'd do that then.  
  
But honestly - the NERVE of that woman! How could she even CONSIDER having Inuyasha LIVE with her!? The idea was preposterous! It was like asking Kaede to shack up with Miroku! She'd never suggest it! Oh, so, just because she was a miko in training she had to be looked after twenty four seven by an unreasonably strong man who had, by the way, claws? Just because she didn't know how to use a gun she had to have. extra precautions taken to ensure her livelihood. Just because a homicidal freak was on her back she had to have someone. make sure she didn't get ripped into tiny little shreds. and watch over she and the child living with her. oh shit. What had she done?  
  
Sourly traveling down the hall with a nearly visible rain cloud looming heavily above her, Kagome wandered into the usual training hall she had Miroku practiced miko instruction in, hoping to find him there and beg him for another lesson - or at least advice on what to do when you've wronged Kaede.  
  
Luckily, she found him there. Unfortunately, Inuyasha was with him.  
  
The two were play fighting with swords, obviously both trained in the art, and moving fluidly around the room in a powerful dance that was violent and jerky, yet graceful and planned at the same time. Miroku was using a typical, dull practice blade, and Inuyasha was using that old sword that had transformed into something powerful the other night, and which had injured Yura, and also of which she had forgotten to as him about. To be added to the list of things she needed to do.  
  
Looking the twenty something hanyou over casually, Kagome reflected on why she so deeply didn't want to be living with Inuyasha. The man was notably attractive, strong, brave and sort of sweet when he wanted to be. Not with too many other people, but sometimes to her. Sure he was cranky, freakishly powerful and not human. but he would undoubtedly be a good bodyguard if she let him try.  
  
On the other hand, Kagome had already made so many compromises with her life when it came to the FBI, and she didn't know if she could stand one more major alteration - even if it was in an effort to save her life. Sighing, Kagome leaned against the wall and watched her two partners spar, unconsciously following the movements of Inuyasha's body as he flipped around the room. Her eyes were glued to him.  
  
"Heya Kagome!" a little voice chirped to the dazed woman.  
  
"Hu?" Kagome squeaked, looking down to find a cheery Shippou smiling up at her. "Oh, hey Shippou," Kagome said, cracking a weak smile and kneeling next to the little demon.  
  
"They're really good, hu?" Shippou asked conspiratorially, so as not to let the two fighting men hear. Kagome glanced at Miroku and Inuyasha, finding to her surprise that Miroku was almost every bit as good as his half demon counterpart when it came to fighting with a weapon, looking fully concentrated and notably strong as he exchanged blows with Inuyasha.  
  
"Yeah, they are," she marveled. Well well, looked as though Miroku had more up his sleeves than first imagined.  
  
"Stop!" Inuyasha suddenly commanded, coming to a halt in the fighting and raising a hand to stop Miroku as well. Miroku quickly abated his attacks, panting a little, and then the two warriors simultaneously turned to look at the girl who had barged in on their training. Kagome blushed a bit and clapped politely for the duo.  
  
"Bravo!" she cheered. "That was amazing! You guys are really good."  
  
"Well, it's standard training for this section of the FBI," Miroku explained, putting down his sword and grabbing a towel, dabbing at the sweat scattering his brow. Inuyasha didn't say anything, simply choosing to look over his sword, as if fascinated. Kagome hadn't seen him since last night, and had been privately hoping for a little more of a welcome. But Hell, this was Inuyasha, and Kagome already knew better than to expect anything at all from him. "Not all criminals we deal with can necessarily be affected by a bullet, so it's good to have a surplus of other ways to protect yourself." The monk continued, now approaching Kagome with a smile.  
  
"I see," Kagome said thoughtfully, distantly wondering if Miroku would be interested in giving some lessons to a weak thing like herself. "Say, Inuyasha, I was meaning to ask you before, but what's up with that weird sword? It did this odd, transforming thing last night, and."  
  
"Oh, now this is a good story!" Miroku quickly assured the girl, turning to Inuyasha and smiling. Inuyasha looked up from his tedious inspection of the powerful blade - which still looked a bit like an over sized letter opener currently - before just as quickly letting his golden eyes flit back down to it.  
  
"Nothing's 'up with it'. It's the Tetsusaiga," he growled simply. Kagome frowned lightly, and Miroku rolled his eyes.  
  
"There is MUCH more to it than that, Ms. Kagome," he guaranteed the twenty year old.  
  
"Really? Like what?" Kagome asked, as Shippou jumped into her arms to listen, apparently already totally comfortable with these humans who had taken him in. You couldn't say the boy didn't know how to adapt well.  
  
"Well, for starters, it was made from the real FANG of his demon father!" Miroku admitted, eyes alight at the prospect of getting to explain some of Inuyasha's dark and mysterious past. Inuyasha, for his part, had retreated to a far corner of the training hall, where had proceeded to begin to clean the sword in a fruitless attempt to get it to shine as it did so wonderfully when it was transformed.  
  
"The fang?" Kagome asked skeptically, eyeing the sword. "But it's HUGE! How big was his father than?"  
  
"Colossal," Miroku admitted grimly. "But all fully grown dog demons when transformed into their truest state are."  
  
"Truest state?." Kagome repeated dumbly, trying to wrap her mind around the possibility that there were demons out their able to transform into huge somethings with swords as teeth. "Does that mean that Inuyasha has the ability transform into a huge demon as well?" At this point both Shippou and Miroku began to chuckle politely. Or tauntingly. Whatever.  
  
"No way, Inuyasha's just a half-breed - after all!" Shippou said smartly. "Hanyous can't transform."  
  
"Thanks for rubbing it in, Shippou!" Inuyasha, with his astute hearing, called from the other side of the room.  
  
"Anytime!" Shippou yelled back proudly.  
  
"Anyway," Miroku said, shaking his head. "Back to the story. on Inuyasha's father's deathbed, his last wish was to have two of his fangs forged into master blades - one for his younger son, Inuyasha, and one for Inuyasha's elder brother,"  
  
"Inuyasha has a brother?" Kagome interjected, looking interested in learning more about her rather elusive partner. "Is he a half demon too?"  
  
"Nope, Sesshomaru is most defiantly a true demon." Miroku said, in a somewhat disdainful tone of voice. Inuyasha snorted in agreement; apparently Sesshomaru was not a well-liked character.  
  
"Hm," Kagome said, urging the monk to continue as she stored that piece of information in the back of her mind.  
  
"So anyway, Inuyasha receives the blade from one of his father's many loyal friends when he came of age, around eighteen I believe. and he's been trying to master it ever since."  
  
"Ever since?" Kagome asked quickly, raising an eyebrow. "Why - is it that hard to wield?"  
  
"Well, it's a MASTER blade Kagome. It has special properties to it that Inuyasha has been unable to utilize,"  
  
"Such as?" the girl prompted, infinitely unfamiliar with things like 'master blades.'  
  
"Well, it has the ability to slay a hundred demons with one swing - and that technique is a bit hard to get the hang of." Miroku said flatly.  
  
"No!" Kagome gasped, staring at the blade across the room with shock. "That's impossible! I mean - look at it now - it could hardly slice bread!"  
  
"No, it's not. However, it can only do this when transformed into its more powerful state, such as the one you saw last night. And even then there's still the matter of figuring out just how to wield in the blade so that it will perform the task of slaying a hundred demons - it's really very complicated."  
  
"And how far has Inuyasha gotten?" Kagome asked, peaking at the hanyou from the corner of her eye.  
  
"Last night was the first time, to our knowledge, it ever transformed into its true self."  
  
"What?" Kagome squawked, watching Inuyasha more or less flinch in his corner. "That's pathetic!"  
  
"Uh. don't say that so loud," Miroku suggested, as Inuyasha began to simmer lightly.  
  
"Oh. right." Kagome said, blushing apologetically. "But really, what's the problem with it?" The monk shrugged helplessly.  
  
"No idea. If we knew what Inuyasha was doing wrong, we would have put this blade to good use long ago - is all I can say." Miroku admitted. Kagome narrowed her eyes and put one hand to her chin, the other still supporting Shippou.  
  
"And we don't know why it worked last night, either?" she guessed.  
  
"You got it."  
  
"Great," Kagome sighed, sinking to the ground and sitting cross- legged so that Shippou could nest in-between her legs. Miroku followed suit, serenely kneeling on the waxed floor.  
  
"Was there anything else you wanted, Ms. Kagome?" he asked, sensing there was something plaguing the girl's mind, even as she listened to the story of the Tetsusaiga.  
  
"Actually. there was." she admitted, frowning. "Oh! Yes! It's, um, about Kaede."  
  
"Kaede?" Miroku asked, leaning in and frowning. "What about her?"  
  
"Well, I think I sort of snapped at her." Kagome admitted, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.  
  
"Oh?" Miroku asked skeptically, frowning. He didn't really view Kagome as the type to snap at elderly ladies, and distantly wondered what had set her off. "Why?"  
  
"Well, we were just talking about things. having to do with the FBI. and stuff, and I got sort of defensive. And I'm sorry, but I don't know what to say to her! I still need to discuss lots of things with Kaede, but I can't agree to the things she wants me to agree to!" the girl exclaimed, finding it very hard to talk about this subject without revealing any important details. With Inuyasha so close, she doubted how wise it would be to admit that the main reason she had gotten into a fight with her superior was because she adamantly refused to have him live in her house. She got this feeling he would somehow take it the wrong way.  
  
"Ah, I think I see. this has to do with her 'extreme measures', for protecting you against Naraku, doesn't it?" Kagome's face reddened, and she shrugged noncommittally.  
  
"Probably," she admitted. Kagome got the distinct sense that Inuyasha was listening to her conversation very intently, even though he wasn't actually looking at her, and tried to keep her voice as low as possible, while simultaneously not making it obvious she was purposely trying to keep her answers hidden. Gosh! This FBI stuff was hard!  
  
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it then, Ms. Kagome. I know that Kaede's methods of law enforcement for criminals can be. unorthodox, at times, so I can only imagine what lengths she would go to, to ensure that her own officers are safe. But she's not petty - I don't think she'll be angry at you for being a bit unruffled about all this Naraku stuff," Miroku admitted in one of his most calming voices. Kagome smiled at Miroku's answer - it had been just what she wanted to hear. She needed someone to tell her it was all going to be all right every once in a while, seeing as, as of late, things didn't really look like they were going to turn out all right anymore.  
  
"That's good to know, Miroku," Kagome said earnestly, beaming. Miroku smiled in return, inching towards Kagome ever so slowly.  
  
"Well Kagome, you're almost like my student now with all the miko training we'll be doing - and I'd do anything to ensure that my pupil is feeling comforta-"  
  
"Whoakay!" Kagome squeaked suddenly, getting to her feet so abruptly that Shippou was unceremoniously dropped to the floor. His hand! His hand! It had been-! "Um - thanks - for your advice! Miroku! But I'm gonna go now - get ready for that Naraku conference we're having soon - um. See you there. Bye Shippou, Inuyasha!" the girl cried, dashing out of the room before anyone had a chance to protest.  
  
Inuyasha looked up from his work to stare at the empty space Kagome had just recently occupied.  
  
"You tried to grope her - didn't you?" he asked flatly, a hint of steel in his tone.  
  
"Me?" Miroku asked innocently. "No! Of course not! How dare you even suggest the notion! I'm a monk!" Inuyasha snorted and shook his head, looking pained.  
  
"Right. A monk." Now why did it bother him so much that Miroku had just tried to cop a feel on Kagome? He did it to every vaguely attractive woman within a twenty-mile radius, so why should Kagome be an exception to the rule?  
  
'I gotta get a life. What sort of an agent develops childish crushes on their partners after only knowing them a week? Oh, right. Me. Twice.'  
  
"Inuyasha? Inuyasha! Stop banging your head against the wall!"  
  
*  
  
Kagome sat in her little office, hands folded, computer monitor glowing happily, blankly, in front of her. She had sat herself down at her desk but a minute ago with the full intention of getting a head start on her report for Kaede - but had soon found her mind to be overwhelmed with far too many other things, and could hardly focus on the task at hand. There were five minutes until she had to go down to the conference room for an emergency meeting about Naraku and the latest developments on his case, organized yesterday by Kaede, and she wanted to clear her mind before she left her office.  
  
Damn it all - she STILL hadn't asked Kaede about her pay! She knew she would be getting salaried at the end of the week, as had been promised in the very beginning, but the amount was still a mystery to Kagome. And that fact was starting to bother her. But what bothered her FAR more was the fact that her mother was dying to see the little 'boy' who was temporarily living with her while her elusive friend from college was getting bunion surgery in England - and she didn't know what to say when her mother noticed some. anatomical differences in the child. Namely a tail. And paws. And yellow eyes. And fangs.  
  
Kagome sighed and rubbed her temples, glancing up at the clock briefly, before delicately taking a sip of her steaming black coffee.  
  
And then there was Naraku himself - the embodiment of every single problem that had happened to her for nearly the past two weeks - and currently the epicenter of one of her biggest fears.  
  
She wasn't afraid to admit it anymore - the Yura incident had scared her, and for a second back there, she had seriously considered taking up Kaede on the offer to have Inuyasha live with her. It had only been for an instant, a flash of fear induced insanity, before her common sense took over and told Kagome that her family/social/school life couldn't stand the pressure of living with a male half demon now - but it had been there, and she had been very conscious of it. Not to mention she STILL didn't know what to make of it.  
  
The main fear was - would her newly awakened miko powers truly be enough to protect Shippou if another random freak set out to maim her? If it was just her in the apartment, Kagome was fairly sure she could handle living alone for a little while longer. Keep a little pepper spray by her bed, a bat at her side, and she'd be good. But if it was Shippou too. did she have enough confidence in herself to keep him safe at night?  
  
The answer was really a big fat 'no', but Kagome was trying not to think about that. It made her sad.  
  
It had been so easy to dismiss the notion of living with Inuyasha when she was still recovering from the initial shock of it all, but now that she actually had some time to seriously dwell over the idea - the possibility was becoming more seductive by the second.  
  
"Noo." Kagome muttered into her hands, shaking her head. But she couldn't do this! The girl had this terrible feeling that a large part of her was suddenly really starting to appreciate this idea because of her undeniable physical attraction to her partner, and she truly didn't want this idea clouding her judgment. A nicely sculpted, strong, handsome hanyou in just the next room. all night. Kagome sighed and turned to look out the small window of her office. Honestly, the decisions she faced everyday. It was crazy. Just crazy.  
  
Bottom line: Did she really NEED Inuyasha? Was it that big a deal if she didn't have a bodyguard to protect her 24/7? She had her own powers now, and was fairly positive they would protect her in life or death situations. Not to mention, no one had even considered the fact if Naraku actually KNEW where she lived, too! Probably Yura had just sniffed out her scent when she went out to get dinner that night, and didn't actually know where her apartment was. Probably.  
  
So, could she survive without Inuyasha, and Shippou to watch over? Damn straight she could! She wouldn't be lured in by the FBI agent's ridiculously good looks and breath taking smile - she could do this on her own, and if this strong determination also happened to be related to the fact that it would make her life with Kiki and Keiko and her mother easier. well so be it! It was just an added bonus in this big package of non- Inuyasha-ness, really. Nodding her head once, eyes flashing with a sense of finality, Kagome got her feet and marched out the door, heading to the meeting with a grim expression on her face - Microsoft Document left untouched. ((--- story of my life.)  
  
Who needed Inuyasha?  
  
*  
  
Kagome barely stifled a yawn as she continued to flick her pen back and forth on the desk, eyelids drooping despite her valiant attempts to keep them open. She was still having trouble comprehending how Kaede could manage to make a meeting where they were to discuss one of the most ruthless, sadistic and eccentric homicidal maniacs this city had seen in decades, BORING - but there it was. Fifteen minutes into the conference and already Kagome felt her head slowly migrating to long table in front of her. Which was bad. Because she wanted to look totally wrapped up in the meeting so as to impress Kaede with her attentiveness, so that hopefully the woman would forgive her for the performance earlier. Hopefully.  
  
The meeting was being held in the official Naraku investigations office, a place Kagome had been to once before, and sitting at the long, silver table in the middle of the room were a collection of Demon Agents Kagome had only seen briefly around the office, but had never actually talked to - Apparently they were also working on this case. And they also happened to be the only ones who appeared to be really getting something out of Kaede's lecture about Naraku's most recent activities, and the steps that would be taken to stop him form here on out.  
  
Kagome knew it was important to listen to Kaede - knew her words would really affect her future - but she just couldn't manage it. And while the other agents were taking notes on their laptops and nodding encouragingly at Detective Kaede, Kagome's little yellow writing pad was covered in little, childish doodles. The only thing Kagome took comfort in was that her two partners, Miroku and Inuyasha, were in no better shape.  
  
Inuyasha was sitting with his shoulders hunched, staring off into the distance with a slightly despondent expression on his face, looking in the direct opposite direction of Kaede.  
  
Miroku, while appearing to be listening intently with his eyes closed, nodding and making little appreciative sounds. also happened to be snoring, if you listened closely enough.  
  
Kagome sighed. She supposed all of these people with large folders and packets were the agents who did paper work for the Naraku case, and she, Inuyasha and Miroku were more the people who took care of all the nasty, bloody things she saw pictures of on the wall.  
  
In fact, there were many cases on the wall, all different ones that had involved Naraku over the long months this investigation had been documenting the demon's moves. And as Kagome forced herself to look over all of them, taking in brief summaries of some of Naraku's exploits, she spotted Yura's case towards the end.  
  
It had a mug shot of Yura, and below her, a shot of she and Inuyasha. It had obviously been recently posted. There was also lots of writing around all the pictures, but she sort of ignored it. Kagome bit her lip and rested her cheek on her hand, trying to figure out how she felt about being directly involved in a murder attempt now. The incident on the roof with Shippou had hardly involved her; she just showed up to save someone. This was a lot different - this time she had been a direct victim, and the thought sent little shivers down her spine. The idea was definitely going to take some getting used to.  
  
"Now is the time to go all out," Kagome heard Kaede announce in her scratchy voice, standing at the head of the table and regarding everyone solemnly. She got a vaguely pained look on her face as she spotted Inuyasha - still not paying her any attention whatsoever - but forged onwards. "Naraku is being allowed to run free and kill as many people as he wants, while we stand by, lost - and the more we let him slaughter and defile innocents, the more tainted blood he can take from his victims to fuel the shikon no tama. He is getting stronger as the days go by, and I fear time is of the essence."  
  
Frowning, Kagome forced herself to listen to more of Kaede's boring dribble, finding it, suddenly, at least a tiny bit interesting.  
  
"As we all are aware of, Naraku's power took a dramatic leap after stealing the shikon no tama from its protectors, and slaying a being with immense power to give the shikon a jump start. Since then, Naraku has been targeting beings with much spiritual, or demonic power to slay - going for the blood that is most potent, and sometimes pure - because powerful blood tastes the best when tainted." Kaede admitted bluntly. "And so - working off this information - I have decided the next course of action we should take is to monitor potential victims in the area. This meaning strong demons and mortals with extraordinary powers who would be the most enticing for Naraku to kill,"  
  
At this announcement Miroku's eyes opened a bit, and even Inuyasha's ears flicked backwards to catch the old woman's words.  
  
"Excuse me, Detective Kaede," one of the note-taking, demon agents asked, raising his hand briefly. "Excuse me, but, how are we going to figure out which demons and mortals Naraku will be targeting? There are many powerful beings in the area of Tokyo, since it is an epicenter for demonic activity. How can we possibly figure out which demon he will attempt to kill next?"  
  
"Good question," Kaede said, nodding her head. "And to this I must say, our tactics are going to be a little vague, and we may have to spread ourselves out for this new idea to work. But the answer is this - there are definite patterns that we've seen, in Naraku's killings. For instance, he particularly enjoys pure blood. Demons who are ruthless and have reputations to be malicious in their ways simply won't do for him. He likes to go after humans who have spiritual powers, and demons who have pure hearts, or dedicate themselves to good. It makes the kill all that much better for him. we have seen even recent examples of this pattern lately as well. The Kits were perfect illustrations of this idea. They were compassionate, good demons in their neighborhood, and had guarded that demon owned building and its inhabitants for as long as anyone could remember. They were role models - and prime examples of a good meal for our killer.  
  
"Next, we have recently seen Naraku attempt to murder a miko." At these words Kagome paled a bit, and looked at her clenched hands in her lap, trying to feel disconnected from this discussion, but finding it notably hard to do so. "And one of our own at that. Kagome Higurashi was recently a near victim of Naraku, and she has spiritual powers of the like we have not seen in these parts for some time. He was obviously drawn to her - but this time sent someone else to do his dirty work, which is something we have seen often from him. Naraku likes henchmen, or allies. He loves to have his victims brought to him, or watch someone else destroy a person's life at his order."  
  
Kagome closed her at Kaede's suggestive words, heart rate speeding up as she wondered what would have happened if Yura had really killed her. What would happen to her family? To her friends? Would her death have truly ruined their lives? She bit her lip and tried to stop thinking about it, attempting to simply focus on Kaede's words at their most basic level. when she felt someone take her hand, and squeeze it firmly.  
  
Eyes widening, Kagome's head whipped to the side, only to discover that the hand covering her pale one was connected to none other than Inuyasha. The half demon had focused all of his attention on Kaede now, and didn't even spare the miko in training a glance as he continued to discreetly comfort the girl. Kagome smiled warmly at Inuyasha's attention, something in her heart igniting at the feel of his large, strong hand wrapped around her smaller one. Filled with a new confidence, she turned back to Kaede.  
  
"On top of all this, it shows that Naraku is no longer afraid to make an attempt on an FBI agents - and THIS means that you will all have to be extra careful from now on. No one is safe anymore! Unless, of course, you happen to be incredibly evil. Unfortunately, we all know that none of you are. We have to watch our steps from now on - as Naraku's power grows so does his maliciousness." Kaede's grave words obviously discomfited a number of demon agents in the room, who all paused in their note taking to cast wary glances around the room. They had seen first hand what Naraku was capable of, and obviously no one had any desire to be one of his fatalities.  
  
"We will be sending reports to everyone via e-mail as soon as we discover which civilians we will be monitoring, or even guarding, first. Since there are many potentials, we might have to split ourselves up and spread out all over the city. Many of you who have worked at a desk thus far will have to take to the streets. This, hopefully, will all be the final faze of this case. We can't let the butchery go on anymore, and it's time to get serious. Everyone will lend a hand when it's time to incarcerate this monster. No longer can we afford to be the people who arrive at the scene only to clean up the messes this maniac leaves in his wake. We have to seek out his next victims before even HE does, and take the initiative on this case. If we follow this flawless plan - we are sure to catch the bastard. You are dismissed." She finished quickly, gathering her folders and paper and abruptly turning to exit the room, before Kagome had a chance to approach her. Not that she really would have had the guts to go up and apologize to the woman, but still.  
  
There was immediately a collection of buzzing murmurs as everyone got to their feet and nervously started discussing the latest developments on the case with their co-workers. EVERYONE was going to have to be a field agent? Bleck.  
  
"Well, that was cheerful," Miroku commented dourly as he, Inuyasha and Kagome made their way our of the dark conference room, and past the cages of howling, enraged and captive demons in the containing room, to the main office area with sad little expressions on their faces. Things were really starting to heat up.  
  
"I'll say," Kagome muttered, sparing a quick glance at Inuyasha, suddenly missing the comforting feel of his hand on hers. He had drawn away without a comment when everyone had stood to leave, and now she sorely missed his presence. Which wasn't a good sign. She had said she didn't NEED him! Dammit.  
  
"Don't you have a class now Kagome?" Inuyasha wanted to know, as he and Miroku headed back towards the training hall for some more, afternoon sword fighting.  
  
"Yeah, I better go get my stuff. I've got studies of Modern Civilization now, but it's basically just a useless class since the finals over." She admitted with a sigh. "I take it you're going to go practice with the Tetsusaiga some more?"  
  
"Yep - and I'm not gonna stop until I figure out how to convert it to the steal cleaving fang again!" he said firmly.  
  
"This could take awhile," Miroku said dryly, slipping into the training room.  
  
"Good luck!" Kagome chuckled as she waved goodbye with a smile, and headed towards her office to retrieve her messenger bag. Inuyasha stayed in place for a little longer than was really necessary after she had departed, staring at Kagome's retreating back with an odd expression on his face.  
  
He . didn't know why he had taken Kagome's hand in the conference room earlier. It had been sort of a compulsive, almost unconscious move, and once he had done it, the hanyou had found it notably hard to draw back. He had just felt so terribly as he listened to Kagome begin to breath heavily, and her heart start to beat erratically as Kaede described Yura's attack. He had felt compassionate, and before he knew what he was doing, and taken her small, soft had in his, squeezing placatingly, and hoping that she would hurry up and calm down because it made him feel sad to listen to her worry.  
  
Shaking his head in confusion, Inuyasha sighed and entered the training hall after Miroku, trying to focus his thoughts on his powerful blade - where they really should be, anyway.  
  
*  
  
"God, I was SO totally shocked when I heard about your new job!" Keiko gushed quietly, leaning over and whispering to Kagome while both college students pretended to look interested as their elderly professor rambled on about what next semester would hold for the sophomores, and how good study habits were important, blahdy blah. Whereas Kaede's talk had quickly gained some interest once she delved into the more interesting aspect of what the agents were 'studying', this man seemed to have not one iota of fun in him, and spoke in a monotone that put even the most hyper student to sleep. Luckily, Kagome had an enthusiastic, excited Keiko to keep her up all class!  
  
"Yeah well, I'm sure Kiki just made it sound cooler than it was." Kagome admitted with a little laugh. "I'm just doing a desk job!" Saying that little white lie was getting unnervingly easier to say as the days went by.  
  
"Well, whatever, at least you have a good job. My parents have been bugging me about getting a part time one for AGES, and I've just been avoiding it because I don't want to end up a waitress or something!" she whispered despairingly, flipping her silky raven hair over her shoulder, and adjusting the pink spaghetti strap of her tank top.  
  
"What's wrong with being a waitress? Hojo was a waiter at the noodle house on 5th for a while." Kagome reminded her.  
  
"Ha! Like THAT says anything. Sure Hojo could pull it off. He's a GUY! He doesn't have to worry about his creamy complexion getting oily, or his perfectly moisturized face breaking out!" she whispered fiercely. Kagome rolled her eyes but smiled anyway, shaking her head.  
  
"Right."  
  
"Oh, and what's this I hear about you adopting an illegitimate child from England?"  
  
"Hey- It's not like that!" Kagome quickly whispered back, mentally sighing as she wished her mother were easier to understand, and that she didn't fill her friends in on everything that happened in her life. It would make everything so much easier! "He's just staying with me until his mother gets back from England - she's having surgery," That lie was becoming easier to say, as well.  
  
"Oh, well that's not half as interesting. But does he like, stay there all day?" Keiko asked, sounding a little bit disgusted. Keiko did not like kids, for starters - and having one would truly interfere with her wild sex life.  
  
"No, only in the evening."  
  
"But - that's worse!"  
  
"It's all right," Kagome admitted with a small shrug. And honestly - it was. Shippou had been anything but a bit hassle since he'd come to stay with her, and he was surprisingly self sufficient for a three year old. Demon children truly were more mature than human ones, and Shippou had no problems looking out for himself at home. Which was wonderful for Kagome.  
  
"Well, whatever. Kiki wanted to know if you were going to come to the sushi bar with us Friday since you couldn't make it last night." Keiki said, waving off the disturbing topic with a flick of her manicured hand. "Or will you be babysitting?"  
  
"No - I can probably make it," Kagome said, figuring she could almost certainly find an agent who would house Shippou for just one night - maybe she'd ask Miroku to watch over the little guy. He seemed to get along with him well enough. "What time?"  
  
"Be there around seven. We TOTALLY have to drill Kiki for information about this new guy she's interested in!" Keiko reminded Kagome, looking grave. School work, family life and international affairs might be trifle annoyances flitting around the atmosphere of her far more important worries in Keiko's mind- but when it came to people's social lives - The girl did not monkey around. This was serious! "I'm going to be honestly worried for her if it's the Lit Professore!" Kagome replied in a hesitant tone, having no idea how it was Kiki had been acting lately, seeing as she hadn't seen her in around four days.  
  
"Well, me too. but what can we do? You know how determined Kiki gets," Kagome reminded her. "It's like a game to her - she refuses to loose."  
  
"I know, I know," Keiko said loftily, leaning back in her chair, and folding her bracelet encrusted arms. "But I feel like something's off about it all, and it bothers me." Knowing better than to doubt Keiko's impressive sixth sense when it came to people's complicated love lives, Kagome frowned softly, before firmly turning her attention back over to the professor, just catching his parting words, something about it being wise to study over winter break (ha!) before the class ended.  
  
*  
  
Juggling a bursting bag of groceries with both hands, Kagome found herself traveling the five blocks back to her apartment later that day- the blocks which suddenly seemed curiously long as she strained her arm muscles to support the numerous boxes of Easy Mac, bags of broccoli and cartons of milk. She was so ready to house a three year old now. Oh yeah.  
  
However, all of the days activities weighing upon her heavily now that she was finally alone, and in no real rush to be anywhere but in her cozy little apartment - Shippou due home in about an hour. At last she had some time to herself with which to sort things out, and she was suddenly realizing there was a whole lot to think about. Again  
  
First off - Kaede. Okay. So. She still had to make up with her for that whole refusal thing - and on top of that there was her new plan to take down the bad guy. Guarding potential victims, hu? Suddenly, Kaede's random bout of protectiveness was making a whole lot more sense. Kagome WAS one of the potential victims, and Kaede really had been looking out for her. The thought made Kagome groan with despair and self-abhorrence, but she held it in as she continued to travel down the street, flicking a lock of curly raven hair behind her shoulder with a violent jerk of her head.  
  
Then there was Inuyasha and the Tetsusaiga. The sword was obviously a very coveted weapon, and Inuyasha father obviously had been an unreasonably large demon, but for some reason Kagome felt herself thinking about the sword a lot. What was it's secret? It was clearly ridiculously powerful, but what were the magic words that made it transform into its true self? And why couldn't Inuyasha, true heir to its power, harness it? To that - at least she could honestly say that it wasn't HER problem.  
  
On the other hand - thinking of the Tetsusaiga left her with thoughts of Inuyasha who was, of course, her problem. The extremely attractive, strong and endearing partner she was developing feelings for - and of whom she desperately wanted to look at in the most platonic of ways. Were her feelings for him really clouding her judgment when it came to she and Shippou's safety? Did she really need someone more experienced, and strong to be around and defend her from the big bad monsters in the shadows? The mere thought made her wince. Inuyasha was the sort of cocky bastard she could see really being frustrated with if forced to depend on him for her well-being.  
  
Drifting back to more comfortable territory, there was now, of course, Kiki. And her Lit professor. Either that or some random schmuck she'd encountered on the streets, at a bar or at one of her soccer meets. Well, honestly, as much as Kagome loved her friend, she had enough to worry about without meddling in Kiki's love life. Kiki was a big girl, and knew how to take care of herself. Even if the secret lover DID turn out to be her professor, she was sure Kiki would be able to think of an intelligent, and legal way to continue (or hopefully end.) the relationship. Besides, Keiko getting mixed up in that mess was probably more then enough help for poor Kiki.  
  
Dusting off her maroon sweater, and dumping the groceries on a random stoop, Kagome let out a big sigh and took a breather. She definitely had to work on that upper body strength she was severely lacking. Frowning, and snatching her cell phone out of her jeans pocket, Kagome quickly dialed the offices number, a pensive expression on her face as she stared up at the sky and waited for someone to pick up. She may be in a whole lot of trouble, but that didn't mean she couldn't start to work out her problems. Apologizing to Kaede seemed like a good start, and as they say - there's no time like the present!  
  
"Hello?" Kaede's distinct, elderly rasp could be heard through the scratchy reception of the phone. "Who is this?"  
  
"Hello Detective Kaede - it's Kagome," Kagome said in a rather sheepish tone, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.  
  
"Oh, hello. Did you have any questions concerning the meeting today?" Kaede asked in a totally neutral tone.  
  
"No, not really. I actually just called to formally apologize." Kagome admitted, sounding resigned. "I wanted to say sorry for my actions earlier today, with the whole suggestions concerning my safety. I was totally rude and I realize you were only looking out for me," she quickly blurted.  
  
"Kagome." Kaede sighed.  
  
"No - please, I'm really sorry. Every since I - well, I mean, since you made me join this organization - you HAVE only been trying to make things easier for me, and I know I'm not the quickest person. When you have a miko so untrained it must be a burden, I understand, and I know that you only want to make sure I don't end up like Kikyo. but I just freaked out a little today, I guess," Kagome finished, biting her lip and waiting for Kaede's reply.  
  
"Kagome. you're not a burden. You're one of the fastest learners I've ever met, in fact. And further more, it's an honor to have you working with the FBI, if only temporarily. You've been doing marvelously for someone in your position, and even I can admit that suggesting you have Inuyasha LIVE with you was a little over the top, even if it was for your safety. We've all been throwing a hell of a lot at you recently, and honestly, I'm surprised you haven't cracked. You've been doing really well, and you've been truly brave. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise,"  
  
"Detective Kaede." Kagome said, getting a little dewy eyed as she listened to Kaede shoot out compliments she sorely felt she didn't deserve.  
  
"Really Kagome, no hard feelings about this morning, all right?" Kaede pressed, sounding companionable and not at all like the scary, angry boss Kagome had thought she might be in retaliation the impertinent college student's performance. The girl smiled widely.  
  
"Sure thing."  
  
"Of course. you still have a long way to go."  
  
"Um- yeah, I know that," Kagome admitted with a small sigh.  
  
"And things ARE going to start to get pretty dangerous."  
  
"Thanks for the reminder."  
  
"But I take it you're STILL not going to let Inuyasha stay with you."  
  
"That'd be a strong no."  
  
"Hmmmm." Kaede rumbled, that disapproving tone back, but not half as strong as earlier, as she now realized it was probably best just to let things be. Kagome would know when to ask for help if things got too tough - right? "You wanted to know about something else as well though, didn't you?" she said suddenly, remembering Kagome trying to bring up another subject earlier that morning. "Something about payments, and Shippou."  
  
"Oh! Yes!" Kagome chirped, gleeful at the prospect of getting to cross off something else she had to do from her dauntingly long list. "Um - not to sound rude or anything, but you told me that as long as I worked with the FBI I would be getting paid regularly - but you never got around to an amount,"  
  
"I didn't? Terribly sorry about that! Well, you'll be getting paid per week, including this week, and I've had the amount for any prospective miko I might find since the beginning, so you'll be getting the standard amount. It's about. 2,000 a week. For starters. I might raise it, depending on how long this case runs," Kagome blinked, staring forward, awed.  
  
"2,000?" she squeaked. "Really?!"  
  
"Goodness girl, it's not that much! Just about as much as any good secretary would be paid! Why - I'm surprised you aren't demanding more, considering the sort of work you've been doing! But you know how it is - we officers of the law never get remunerated properly for our sacrifices, is my opinion." Kaede mumbled, one hand drifting up to the patch covering her bad eye.  
  
"It's a lot for me!" Kagome protested. "It's tons for me! Wow - thanks Kaede! This is so cool!" she chirped, hopping around on the street gleefully.  
  
"Um - no problem," Kaede offered, smiling in spite of herself. "But there was one more thing you wanted to ask, correct?"  
  
"Yes. Yes there was," Kagome said, getting a hold of herself long enough to calm down and ask about Shippou's appearance, and how she might be able to avoid having him seen my family and friends. 2,000 a week! A week! Wait until she told Kiki and Keiko! "It's about Shippou, he's-" Kagome began, calming down and beginning to explain her predicament. "He's." she paused, frowning at something, and cocking her head lightly.  
  
"Kagome?" Kaede asked, urging the girl to continue as she hesitantly trailed off. However, Kagome barely heard the elderly woman as she continued to stare at what appeared to be an injured animal of some sort, a cat perhaps, scuttling around the edges of an ally that started right next to Kagome's local, grubby looking drug store. It was dark and furry, with lighter brown designs on it, and it appeared to be wounded in some way, because it was carrying itself oddly. but what really got Kagome was that it was emanating an aura that was one of an animal and something darker. something unnatural. Kagome couldn't understand what sort of a combination this was, since she knew what normal animals felt like, knew what her own cat, Buyo felt like, but she simply couldn't figure out what was up with this scraggly ally cat, lingering in the shadows. Squinting at it, and tuning out Kaede's incessant questions, Kagome hesitantly stepped forward, swallowing her hesitance in favor of her curiosity, and slowly approaching the wounded creature.  
  
"Hold on. Kaede." she mentioned, stopping a few feet away from the cat. Biting her lip, and distinctly feeling something evil rolling off the animal, who had its dark back turned to her, Kagome called out shortly - "Here. kitty kitty!"  
  
Then, to Kagome's total horror, the cat began to speak back to her in a low, throaty whisper.  
  
"Kitty kitty?" it hissed, shaking with what could have been laughter, but just as likely rage - the small, mangled thing slowly turned around. and revealing its true self with one horrifying jerk of its head, an insane gleam in its eye. "I'm not a kitty kitty."  
  
It couldn't have been any more right. Kagome felt her mouth go dry, and her hand nearly crush her cell phone, as the 'cat' turned around, revealing a pale, shrunken human head with a bright red mouth full of fangs. not to mention eight legs and a hairy body to accompany it. That was no cat body.. It was a tarantula! A HUGE tarantula!  
  
"I'm an itsy bitsy spider!" it hissed in a voice that dripped with pain and hunger. The ugly thing's purpose became that much clearer to Kagome as it let out a terrifying, final hiss and launched itself at Kagome. Kagome screamed and recoiled with disgust, leaping to the side, eyes wide and disbelieving. What they Hell was that thing?  
  
Not giving the half human, half spider demon a chance to recover from its pounce, Kagome threw herself forward, her entire frame shaking. This was the second attack in two days. and she didn't have any weapons on her once more. 'I really have to start packing', Kagome admitted with a mental sigh of acquiescence.  
  
"K-Kaede!" she hollered into the phone, trying to regain control over her vocal cords as she heard the distinct scratching of eight, hairy legs chasing after her, gurgling with anger.  
  
"No need to yell child, I'm right here!" Kaede replied agitatedly on the other end.  
  
"Call Inuyasha! Tell him to come to my neighborhood - I'm being attacked!" Kagome continued to shriek, the only person coming to mind who could save her when in a situation such as this one being her silver haired, incredibly strong partner.  
  
"What - again? Already?" Kaede asked skeptically.  
  
"Yes!! Please hurry! It's a spider - human thingy! And it's freaking me out, and I don't have any weapons. help me! Get Inuyasha!" Kagome was near tears as she threw herself down a new ally, just missing the spider demon as it flung itself at her back. Stumbling into the ally way, and panting with fear, Kagome hung up on Kaede before she had a chance to ask any more questions, tucking the cell phone away and coming to a screeching halt. She looked over her shoulder to see if the spider was anywhere in sight - but apparently it hadn't followed her down the ally. Letting out a tiny sigh of relief, Kagome ran a shaky hand through her hair, gathering her wits. Just as she heard a familiar scraping behind her. But this time it was a bit. louder.  
  
"Ah." was just about the only word Kagome could form as she spotted the horrid sight behind her, lip quivering with disgust.  
  
Tucked away in the back of the dank ally, swarming and scuttling like many overgrown cockroaches, a haze of ugly brown and black. was a nest of demon spiders. All of them about the size of roughly Kagome's torso, with different demonic human like heads, fangs dripping and beady eyes swiveling around sporadically, and all were clambering around a thick web that stretched from either side of the stone ally. The web was eerily large a flesh colored. Currently there were around thirty of the spider demons, all now staring directly at the young miko who had stumbled into their clutches. And at the center of the thick, fleshy web, smiling sadistically, and even chuckling lightly. was an elderly mans' head, red eyes flashing merrily, and emanating an evil vibe to be reckoned with.  
  
"Greetings, dear maiden," it growled cruelly, eyeing Kagome as a cat my eye an errant mouse.  
  
And as Kagome let out an ear piercing screech, terrified beyond belief, she simultaneously, dimly decided she would much rather be facing Yura once more. Why did they have to be. spiders?  
  
*  
  
"Damn girl - can't she go one freaking day without being accosted by a blood thirsty demon?" Inuyasha grumbled to himself, cursing Kagome on his way to her apartment in a colossal effort to shrug off his immense worry for her health.  
  
When Kaede had called him, a mere ten minutes ago, she had babbled something about Kagome being attacked by a spider demon that was chasing her down the street - and immediately Inuyasha's heart had stopped. With no questions, he had immediately leapt up from his desk, and pulled himself out the window of his office to roof hop it down to Kagome's place - taking a fast route he had already begun to memorize within a week of knowing the girl. Kagome had the immensely frustrating ability to make Inuyasha into some sort of mother hen whenever she was in danger, and currently he could picture nothing but her being ripped apart by a large, angry spider demon, sent by Naraku.  
  
Why did things like this have to happen to someone as sweet, and pure hearted as Kagome?  
  
Brushing that surprisingly heart wrenching thought aside, Inuyasha leaped the gap between two buildings with a powerful bound, keeping his eyes peeled an his ears alert for any signs of Kagome. Where was she? Would he find her in time, or-  
  
"HEEEEELLLLPPP!" Came the intolerably familiar shriek of a twenty- year-old girl about to be torn in two. Swiftly throwing himself over to the next roof, Inuyasha peered down into the ally below the old apartment building he stood upon, hardly prepared for the sight that greeted him in the dark ally way.  
  
"Kagome!" he called, golden eyes wide as he spotted the demon web, and the many spider head demons that swarmed around the ally, centering around a frightened, pretty girl who was desperately defending herself from each spider as it launched itself at her, pulling at her skirt and snapping at her legs. Kagome was currently on her knees, a pink glow seeping from her fingers as she swiped blindly at spider demons that threw themselves at her, effectively burning the suckers if she came in contact with them. However, there were many scrapes decorating her arms and legs none the less, and one particularly determined spider demon was currently latched onto Kagome's thigh, prepared to sink it's knife like teeth into the muscle just below it's hairy feet. The sight made Inuyasha's blood boil. "NO!" he roared with fury, hurling himself from the roof, and coming to land in a graceful crouch in the ally, growling threateningly.  
  
"I-Inuyasha!" Kagome sobbed, finally sinking her glowing fingers into the spider head on her thigh, so it was thrown to the side with a final hiss.  
  
"Who ARE you?" rumbled the elderly head of the web demon from his corner, obviously the brains of the operation, and the demon who had been goading his little spider minions on as Kagome fought for her life.  
  
Silently leaping towards Kagome, and throwing a protective arm over her, Inuyasha addressed the web demon with no small degree of primal rage.  
  
"Call your spiders back, demon!" Inuyasha ordered, not bothering to answer the demon, and reaching for the blade at his side. Looking at it, the shaking Kagome realized immediately that Inuyasha had brought the Tetsusaiga with him.  
  
'Great - he brought a blade he can't use!' she thought sarcastically, clutching her arms and huddling close to her tall savior, hyperventilating.  
  
"Are you an assassin of Naraku?" Inuyasha continued.  
  
"What concern is it of yours if I am - pup?" the demon asked archly, some of his spiders swiftly scuttling up the 'arms' of his web, and crouching in defensive positions all around him, like a barricade.  
  
"Damn it," Inuyasha sighed, taking that as a positive response. "What does Naraku have against you Kagome?" he sighed, shooting Kagome one despairing glance. Feeling compelled to answer, Kagome quickly got her voice back, feeling somewhat more calmed now that her protector was here. Wait a second. her protector?  
  
"I - I don't know. Maybe it's because-"  
  
"No more talk, children!" the demon roared agitatedly, and with a manic jerk of his head, sending a hoard of spider demons down on the couple, Kagome immediately shrieking with fear and covering her head. Standing in front of her, naked Tetsusaiga in hand, Inuyasha began to skillfully bat away at the spider demons, smiling in satisfaction as his blade cut through most of them quite effectively - even though it had yet to transform. The blade had obviously gotten stronger since the battle with Yura.  
  
"You're going to DIE demon!" Inuyasha howled passionately. He had planned on possibly waiting for the backup he knew Kaede would be sending before partaking in any serious battle earlier, but it didn't seem as though there was going to be much of a chance of that now. He was the fastest demon on the force, and who knew how long it would be before anyone found them in this ally? He had to protect Kagome, especially when this guy was deathly serious. And, as he always said, when in Rome.  
  
Cutting away at all the spider heads that threw themselves chaotically at Inuyasha, jagged fangs extended, Inuyasha frowned at the fact that the Tetsusaiga was still in its lesser state. What was it that triggered its transformation? What did he have to do? Yelling out his frustrations, and slashing through a particularly fat spider, Inuyasha was only brought away from the gruesome task of slaughtering every spider that got in the way of the demon web he knew to be the boss of the operation, by Kagome's panicked cry for help.  
  
The girl had been standing just where Inuyasha had left her, watching him take out demon after demon with a fluidity and skill she had sorely lacked when defending herself. when something hard and clammy wrapped itself firmly and quickly around her right ankle, tugging harshly.  
  
Screeching with terror, Kagome found herself being dragged toward the large web by one of the web demon's arms. Kicking and screaming, she tried to reach for the web piece, fingers poised and glowing with miko power she knew almost nothing about how to harness. Clamping one hand firmly around the web, much as she had done last night with Yura when in her clutches, Kagome watched the skin begin to sizzle uncomfortably. Gross.  
  
"Agh! You insolent little lass!" the web demon hissed, wincing at the feel of his skin beginning to melt away and be purified. Decidedly, he swung his limb up, Kagome still firmly trapped, and slammed her against the web. The girl sucked in a sharp breath and was silenced, landing so that she hung on the trap limply, stunned.  
  
"Kagome!" Inuyasha roared, his voice going up an octave or two in horror at the sight of his partner being brutally smashed against the web, her head snapping back painfully.  
  
"Ah." Kagome groaned softly, finding herself stuck in the web. "AH." she said a little louder, spotting three hungry looking spider demons leaving their perches on the web to scuttle towards her, smiling gleefully at the sight of her deliciously prone form. Tears formed in Kagome's eyes as she struggled to be free of netting that held her firmly, but she was trapped by its powerful, bony grip, and her world was spinning slightly from the attack.  
  
"Let her GO!" Inuyasha demanded harshly, addled by the many spider demons throwing themselves in his way en route to Kagome. His eyes flashed red as he watched her struggle vainly, the three spider demons almost on top of her.  
  
"Nooo!" Kagome burbled, fighting the urge to vomit as she felt the hairy, twitchy bodies of the spiders clamber around her form, scrambling up her legs, fangs grazing her arms and scrapping at her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on trying to get her arms free, using all of her mental energy to block out the feel of the tarantula like demons battering her. If only she had her hands loose!.  
  
Inuyasha halted at the sight of one of the demons sitting on Kagome throwing its head back - poised to bight her with what he was sure were venomous teeth. And, like a shockwave running through him, he grasped his rage and used it to propel him forward, hacking through the demons in his way suddenly as though they were nothing more than paper, his focal point being Kagome, crying vainly for help.  
  
"HYAAA!" he shouted triumphantly, the Tetsusaiga, in a blinding flash of gold, shooting up and becoming immediately heavier, slamming down just next to Kagome so that the spiders shrieked in terror and were thrown from the web, cutting away at Kagome's confines. Kagome gasped sharply as she felt herself be released, falling to the ground and rolling to the side. She looked up at Inuyasha, shocked, as he slung the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder. He was smirking happily; obviously joyful over the fact that he had once more transformed the steel-cleaving fang. However his eyes still glimmered intensely with worry and compassion.  
  
"Are you okay?" he called down to her, currently standing on the now torn web. Still shaking with total horror and disbelief, Kagome could only nod mutely in response, unable to pick herself up. Realizing fully that she wasn't okay; Inuyasha hesitantly tore himself away from her concentrated gaze, coming to face the web demon, and prepared to finish him off for good. As long as she wasn't in any immediate danger. "Now I'm really going to have to kill you!" Inuyasha roared at the slightly fearful looking head of the web demon.  
  
"You little upstart!" it yelled unconvincingly, shrinking back and calling upon more of its minions to defend it from the livid hanyou. "You don't know how to wield that blade properly - Naraku told me as much! We'll be the victors of this battle, and your little miko will be dust!"  
  
"Shut UP!" Inuyasha yelled, swiping away the little spider heads with an almost casual swing, and coming to stand just above the web demon's head with the blink of an eye, moving so fast even Kagome, still on the ground, had a hard time following the silver haired agent. "You die NOW!"  
  
"No!" the web demon snapped back, two of its thicker limbs slamming forward, and hitting Inuyasha on either side so that he was squished between them, immobile. "I am far to powerful to be destroyed by a young thing like you!"  
  
For a second Inuyasha looked extremely uncomfortable, both arms pinned to his side, and the Tetsusaiga still firmly clutched in his clawed hand. But then he seemed to tense for a second, closing his eyes and concentrating - and when his vibrant gold eyes were open once more, he snapped himself out of the web, muscling through it and smiling evilly. The remains of the limbs were thrown to the side violently.  
  
"I don't think you should be so cocky, old man," he said simply, lifting the Tetsusaiga above his head, and, averting his gaze at the last moment, slamming down upon the demon's balding head.  
  
"NOOOO!" it screamed, the entire web tearing apart at the seams as the head was split in two. The web ripped apart, glowing purple at the cracks, and was quickly spewed all around the ally, throwing spider heads so violently against the cold stonewall that many of them snapped their necks and slid to the floor, dead.  
  
Inuyasha leaped away from the explosion of flying flesh and spider, kneeling a few feet away from Kagome as he looked on, expression grim as he stayed to make sure the job had been pulled off properly. One could never be too sure that the demon was actually dead, was what he had learned after around three years on the force.  
  
Once the dust had settled, and the spider demons lay silent, the web was left in gooey little pieces dripping of the walls and sitting in puddles on the dirty floor of the ally. Inuyasha finally let his guard down, closing his eyes briefly and letting out a little contented sigh, clutching the Tetsusaiga, as if congratulating himself on a battle well fought. Yes! He had transformed the Tetsusaiga once more! He was da man!  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped sharply, off to the side, one hand clutching her chest as she stared fearfully upwards. Following her gaze almost despairingly, Inuyasha let a small snarl resound in the back of his throat as he spotted one last, surviving demon head, using its own webbing to swing down from a fire escape above Kagome. It looked terrifically ugly, howling with fury and launching itself at the miko. Kagome looked too shocked at this point to do anything about the new threat but stare, so Inuyasha quickly leapt to his feet, coming to her rescue as he felt the Tetsusaiga vibrate under his firm grasp, arching upwards to cut the spider demon in two before it came anywhere near Kagome.  
  
And as the remains of the demon splattered to the ground some yards off, Inuyasha calmly came to sit near Kagome, searching her face cautiously as she stared at her clenched fists, shaking ever so slightly, and her heart beating like a drum to Inuyasha's sensitive ears. He didn't think he had ever seen her so terrified, and THAT truly scared him - more than any God- awful tarantula demon.  
  
"Kagome." he started hesitantly, one hand going out to touch her shoulder gently, as the sound of police cars howled in the distance, no doubt the cavalry from the agency finally there to help clean things up. No WAY was Inuyasha going to be responsible for mopping up the mess of the dead demons. "Say something," he urged, hoping she wasn't too badly frightened. He knew things like this scared mortals, but Kagome always seemed to be so brave during other expeditions.  
  
"Please - don't leave me!" she cried abruptly, throwing herself at Inuyasha and wrapping her arms around him so forcefully the agent was pushed onto his butt. Inuyasha stared down, shocked, at the pretty girl burying her face in his chest, tears pouring down her face as she sniffled pathetically. "Please stay with me. I was so scared! I can still f-feel them all over me! God - and I. I can't be alone, I have to. please stay!" she ended up sobbing, shaking her head. Inuyasha hesitantly placed both of his arms around her, frowning deeply, and resisting the overpowering urge to growl with anger. Poor Kagome. she shouldn't have to. it wasn't really her responsibility to!-  
  
"It's all right. I'll stay. I'll stay. I'll do whatever you want." he agreed softly, hardly thinking over the depth of his words as Kaede and Miroku jumped out of the police cars that came to a screeching halt on the street, along with many others that totally barricaded the street, which was now officially a youkai crime scene. The two agents jogged over to the bloody ally in time to see Inuyasha pick Kagome up in his arms, ready to take her back to the apartment for some quick treatment of her, luckily minimal, wounds.  
  
*  
  
Author's notes:  
  
Only sixteen pages after almost a month of no updating? Sorry - that hardly seems adequate - but it will have to do for now. The problem is I've really been focused on other things lately, if you want to know the truth.  
  
I guess this chapter made a lot of hard-core Inu/Kag fans happy, and I told you I would do my best to get them to live together - so here it is! Admittedly, I made Kagome a little wimpy in this chapter, but I think that may have come from the fact that I am a total arachnophobic, and it may have rubbed off on her personality. Also, having her experience a total mental breakdown over the experience of being violently attacked by two total freaks with the intent to kill within the span of two days was essential for my plot, and one of the only ways I could get Inuyasha in her apartment. She'll get stronger after this though - things can only go up from here!  
  
Anyway, for those of you who were wondering, next chapter - Sango enters the story! (And I'm a big Sango/Miroku supporter, in case you were wondering.) And possibly Sesshomaru will make an appearance if I so feel the need. The two are going to be, of course, totally transformed into modern day versions of themselves, and hopefully that will be amusing to all.  
  
Next time: Chapter Seven - My Boyfriend the Homicidal Maniac. When will this chapter be out? Before Easter, not before early April. Probably. Wait - when's Easter. did that deadline make ANY sense? If I'm going to commit myself to having a definite due date for the next chapter, one hopes that the date actually exists, but I suppose I shall have to work around it. Have a wonderful day!  
  
~ Rio Grande. 


	7. Living Arangements

Hey all,  
  
Sorry to everyone about the slow, slow update, but it's been getting harder and harder to be inspired to write fanfiction as of late. In fact, I've had a total writer's block for every single one of my fanfics for almost the past two months! - Never fear though - I'll of course finish this story if nothing else.  
  
This chapter is going to be a little grim. and then slowly things will slip back into the more humorous tone I've taken with Bitten. I just want Kagome to fully recover from the emotional trauma and what not, because that sort of thing is generally important. And about the emotional trauma - numerous people have mentioned how uncharacteristic it was for Kagome to have a panic attack in the ally with the spiders, and I'll throw out the lame excuse once more that it was important to the plot. However, let us also remember that Kagome is only human. She's been with the FBI for about a week (It seems like way more.) keep in mind, and in the beginning of the manga she did tend to freak out at times - especially when Inuyasha wasn't there to save her. However I will admit it was an odd scene to stick into my story. Sorry!  
  
Also - I will be attempting to revise all the earlier chapters that I can. (Particularly the first few because they just bite.) So if you feel like refreshing your memory, go ahead and read chapter one again, because it will be (hopefully) better this time around. If you don't feel like it, that's okay too - after all, no matter what I do, I don't know how much I can improve the car wreck that is the beginnings of Bitten. Am I going to look back one day and hurl the same insults at this chapter? Yes. Yes I am.  
  
I don't own Inuyasha and enjoy!  
  
*  
  
Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Seven: Living Arrangements  
  
*  
  
(Some people may have noticed I changed the title for this chapter. Some people might not have.)  
  
*  
Inuyasha opened the apartment window carefully with on arm, the other still firmly cradling Kagome against his chest, as the girl continued to shiver and shake violently within his powerful grasp. Accompanied by the occasional pathetic sniffle and whimper, it was all Inuyasha could do not to growl with anger and frustration for about the one-thousandth time that night, at the thought that someone as sweet as Kagome had been forced to go through what she did.  
  
The picture of that god-ugly spider demon scuttling over her body, ready to sink its noxious teeth into her thigh while she cried out for Inuyasha to save her - and all while in the confines of the deadly spider web - still haunted Inuyasha's mind deeply.  
  
He never wanted to see her in that sort of position again. He wanted to protect this girl.  
  
The apartment was dark and silent, so Inuyasha swiftly flicked some lights on as he entered the living room, vaguely remembering the layout of Kagome's apartment from the last time he had been in it, the previous night. Which had also, coincidentally, been right after a particularly violent attempt on Kagome's life. He approached the couch briskly and then gently laid his partner down on it, watching as she breathed in shakily and sat up, staring at him hesitantly after a moment.  
  
"Thank you." she sighed, closing her eyes briefly and taking in the comforting atmosphere of her home - a place that had yet to be broken into by angry demons or disgusting creatures. It made her frazzled nerves calm down somewhat, and she quickly got her breathing under control, trying to tell herself over and over again that it was all okay now; she was safe, Inuyasha had killed all the spiders.!  
  
There was a quiet moment, where Inuyasha observed her with a thoughtful expression on his face, as though thinking something over.  
  
"Don't mention it," he finally said. "You're my partner, I'm supposed to help you out. Now where was your First Aid kit again?.."  
  
"In the closet to your right, second shelf up," she said, directing the hanyou around with a small, appreciative smile on her features - the first one since the attack.  
  
This was why she. might have had a huge crush on Inuyasha, the half demon. Because he was just about the cutest thing ever when he wanted to be, and seemed to always be around to help her just when she needed it - even if she didn't always like to admit she needed the help he had to offer.  
  
"You don't have to do this you know, my injuries aren't that bad."  
  
"Of course I do," Inuyasha said gruffly, perching himself on the end of the couch and opening the first aid kit, much as Kagome had done for him just yesterday, when his wounds had been deep and terrible. Remembering this little fact, Kagome crawled forward towards Inuyasha; not noticing as he halted his actions and watched her intently while her hand darted forward to cautiously pat his abdomen, searching for any easily detectible evidence of his previous injuries. She knew he healed with a freakish sort of speed, she had seen it before with the demon apartment incident, but the gashes had been so terrible last night, she had just assumed it would take longer for him to recuperate.  
  
"I can hardly feel any of your old wounds - you're practically completely healed," she said, letting her hand rest on his button down shirt, and feeling nothing but smooth muscle under her hands, with the occasional fading scar mark here and there. "You're amazing," she added with a sort of reverence in her tone.  
  
"Ah, it's nothing," Inuyasha snorted, pushing her away quickly, and trying to ignore how personal her actions were. She probably had no idea that she was being incredibly intimate with him - she was probably just being her usual, sweet self. Kagome was an innocent sort of person. She wasn't thinking like him. "Now sit still and let me get a good look at your injuries,"  
  
"They're just a bunch of cuts from the s-spider's talons," she said, finding it odd that she still couldn't think about the dangerous spider heads without shuddering slightly. Was she really so traumatized?  
  
Hell yes.  
  
"You never seem half as worried about your own wounds as you do about other people's," Inuyasha chuckled wryly, taking back out the rapidly emptying packet of band-aids, as well as the antiseptic bottle.  
  
"That's because your wounds are always like, these bloody, large holes in your body that would make most normal people croak!" Kagome protested, a little bit of her old self flaring back up briefly. Inuyasha grinned broadly as he put some of the antiseptic on a cotton swab, and tended to a particularly large laceration on her knee, glad to see that some of her old humor was back. He had been seriously worried about her mental health there, for a while. just remembering the way she had panicked back in the ally still brought shudders down his spine. And what she had said.  
  
  
  
'What was I supposed to say to a request like that?' Inuyasha thought with a small frown, moving on to the other leg, starting from the thigh, which had an incriminating collection of deep cuts in the shape of spider legs. 'It hurt me just to listen to her. Made me want to cry too. It was all I could do to say that I would never leave her side again - dammit, why didn't Kaede take precautions against this sort of thing happening to Kagome? Especially after Yura's attack? It's not like that old hag to be so careless, or miss the fact that another attempt on her life was very likely at this point. Naraku isn't one to give up on his targets once he's decided they're any sort of threat.'  
  
"Kagome, I don't like this." Inuyasha said flatly, pushing the girl's knees down so that she sat up, and then extended one of her pale arms gently, inspecting it carefully for cuts. "Two murder attempts in two nights? Something has to be done. I - the FBI can make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again, and I think you should consider that," He tried to say all this in his most professional, and impersonal voice that he usually used when talking to witnesses to a crime, or victims of demon attacks - but with Kagome, he suddenly found his voice edging more towards a pleading, worried tone. If Kagome noticed she didn't say anything.  
  
"I know, Kaede talked to me about it earlier," she said, softly, as though she really would rather not mention it.  
  
"She did?" 'Now that sounds more like the Kaede I know,' "What did you say, then?" he asked, curious. Kagome, who had been making little to no protests as Inuyasha cleaned her burning wounds, now let a pained expression slip onto her face, and she averted her gaze slightly.  
  
"Um, well, I was thinking of just letting her take patrol cars to circle the area where I live, and keep tabs on me a little, you know, because I think she would be okay with that," Kagome said uneasily, Inuyasha raising an eyebrow at her wary tone. She was hiding something.  
  
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." 'But not a good enough idea for me.' "Maybe you want some more. substantial protection though? The attacks on you have been pretty damn violent Kagome, and you were really lucky you were able to reach Kaede today before things got messy. You might not be so lucky next time around."  
  
"I - I know. and Kaede had been suggesting some more drastic forms of defense on my part, but I. I wasn't too sure what I thought of them," she said quietly, drawing her legs up and unconsciously moving away from Inuyasha. Inuyasha's curiosity was piqued though, and he had a feeling he was going to be amused by whatever it was Kagome was keeping from him.  
  
"Oh, like what kind of suggestions?" he pressed.  
  
"Um, nothing. I mean, I don't think I should talk about them. They're not going to happen anyway," she said quickly, blushing a bit but hiding it well.  
  
She had been so terrified when she had begged for Inuyasha to 'stay with her', earlier, in the ally - but now that things had calmed down somewhat in her head, Kagome was realizing that Inuyasha had no idea what she had been getting at when asking him to stay with her. In retrospect, it was still totally unfair to ask the half dog demon to live with she and Shippou for the duration of the investigation - an investigation that was looking like it was going to take some time to finish. Inuyasha most likely had no idea she had been speaking very literally when she had asked him to stay with her - so she couldn't do through with her request. She just couldn't.  
  
"Hey, come on Kagome, you can tell me," Inuyasha said, joking lightly and lifting the awkward mood somewhat. "What did Kaede offer? And why did you refuse?" he added with a hint of seriousness to his tone, signaling that Kagome WAS going to eventually have to tell him no matter what.  
  
"Because. because she wanted to do something. I didn't think was a good idea!" she blurted, trying to evade answering the question again - What's more, actually answering Inuyasha's question outright would be sort of embarrassing.  
  
"I'll just find out by asking Kaede later! So it's either you tell me or she tells me -as my partner I always know what's going on with you." he said archly, folding his arms and looking intimidating. Kagome cursed quietly and rubbed her head, looking up at him cautiously with a weak smile on her face.  
  
"You're going to laugh," she admitted.  
  
"I hope so." Inuyasha knew better than most that Kaede had. an odd idea of what a suitable amount of protection was for innocents in danger, and what an incredibly smothering amount was. After Kikyo left, she had. after all.  
  
"She um - suggestedthatyoumoveinwithmeandprotectmeandShippouuntilthecaseisover..."  
  
"What? Come again?" Inuyasha asked, cupping his ear. "Say it slower."  
  
"Ah - I," Kagome didn't think her face could actually get any hotter - why her?! "She said she wanted you to move in with me!" she cried, clearer this time.  
  
Cracking one eye open carefully to see Inuyasha's reaction, Kagome found, to her surprise, that Inuyasha's expression was actually carefully neutral. He hadn't broken out into a fit of righteous ranting, as she had feared he would, at the prospect of having to live with someone as weird as HER, and he hadn't started rolling around on the floor, laughing, either. But then - what WAS he thinking?  
  
"And you said this was a bad idea?" he asked slowly, after an extended pause.  
  
"Well - YEAH!" Kagome barked, rubbing her head and smiling awkwardly. Just what was he suggesting?! "I mean - don't you think it is? It would be kind of weird to make you to live with me until we're sure all threats of Naraku are gone. and I. I didn't want to force that kind of thing on you!" she explained clumsily.  
  
"Kagome, you didn't have to worry about me being forced to live with you," Inuyasha reprimanded. "If I didn't want to do it, I could probably told Kaede to get someone else to do the job. I'm to far up in the hierarchy of the FBI at this point to be used as a simple bodyguard if I don't want to."  
  
"Well. all right, but I thought it would have been weird for me to bring it up anyway. And besides - if you were just going to say 'no', what's the problem anyway?" Kagome snapped, suddenly feeling a bit defensive. So wait - was he now saying that there was no way he would have ever lived with her anyway? When she thought he was suggesting he might have agreed with Kaede's terms it was flustering - but having him tell her it was a lost cause was just as bad! Oh Gods she was confused.  
  
"Actually, if Kaede suggested it, and you were all right with it. I might not have said no," Inuyasha admitted quietly, his words almost imperceptible - but powerful nonetheless.  
  
The miko in training did a bit of a double take, watching Inuyasha's demeanor suddenly change from confidant and casual, to shy and almost guilty - as though he were confessing something bad. Kagome's jaw dropped and she stared, wide eyed, at the obviously mentally addled hanyou sitting next to her.  
  
"You. you would have agreed to live with me, and protect Shippou and I from Naraku, if I had asked you?" she repeated, as though just to make sure Inuyasha knew what he was saying.  
  
"I - I suppose that's what I mean," he said in an uncharacteristically hesitant way. "I mean - it's only for your protection! You've seen what kind of attacks have been launched against you! I'm obviously the only person fit for this sort of job," he reasoned.  
  
"But are you forgetting that you'll be having to live in my apartment. around six feet away from my bedroom. for possibly a very long time? This doesn't all. bother you?" Kagome squeaked in disbelief.  
  
Inuyasha looked her in the eye for a good moment, as though considering whether or not this situation really DID in fact bother him. sitting up straighter - a cocky grin reestablishing itself on his face. As it should be.  
  
"Hey, I already told you I'd stay with you for however long you needed back in the ally - remember?" he told her, as though this cleared everything up. Kagome took in a sharp gasp, unable to believe what Inuyasha was saying. Or how sweet he was being. Sure, the circumstances were a little weird, but this was possibly one of the more romantic things any guy had done for her ever! Well, it sort of quavered under the shadow of one of Hojo's many amorous escapades. but those hardly counted because the affection was unrequited! - But, was she now saying that these sort of sentiments. with Inuyasha. WERE requited then?  
  
"Hello? Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, waving a clawed hand in front of her face and urging the girl to snap out of her daze. "Geez - you look like I just asked you to marry me or something! I'm only going to be here at night to make sure that the more homicidal demons out there don't sneak into your room and disembowel you." He assured her. Kagome laughed uneasily and shook her head in agreement, covering up her mild embarrassment.  
  
"Right! I know! It's just. thanks Inuyasha. I didn't want to ask you to stay with me because I thought it would be totally out of line. and I still do. it's just. I really am scared. And I really do appreciate this sort of attention," she said honestly. "Thank you,"  
  
With that she quickly embraced the silver haired man, hiding her face in his shoulder so he couldn't see the flustered look on her features - one that was borne from not only mortification at having Inuyasha be so kind to little old her, but also out of shame from the fact that she had just admitted she wasn't really as brave as she pretended to be most of the time. She was just plain scared right around then. Inuyasha stiffened for a second, before returning the hug and patting her back awkwardly.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it. As much as you don't want to be torn apart by some crazy freak like Yura. I want to be there to protect you from the crazy freaks who want to tear you up," he said in a voice laced with good humor, and an underlying, deeper emotion that seemed to hold traces of regret.  
  
"Inuyasha," Kagome said softly, now looking back up at him, and unable to believe he'd just said something so blatantly caring - he just didn't seem like that sort of man! 'It's always the tough guys.' she realized with a mental grin.  
  
"Kagome. I." Inuyasha replied, his eyes becoming rather dark as he looked down at her, and his fists clenching unconsciously by his sides.  
  
But then Inuyasha's face was getting closer to hers. much closer. and she could actually feel his breath on her mouth as he leaned in. Kagome's eyes widened considerably and her lips parted with surprise. Was he going to.. Was he trying to - kiss her?  
  
Kagome had just started to crane her neck to the side and respond to Inuyasha's movements, feeling her breath get caught in her throat - when there was a sharp knocking on the door.  
  
Instantly the couple split apart and leaped to opposite ends of the couch, nearly shaking with surprise and staring at the offending door in an accusatory manner - both with eyes that were just as angry as they were completely alarmed.  
  
"Uhh." Kagome said intelligently - hugging herself and desperately trying to hide the fact that she was nearly panting with fear at the prospect of being caught making out with her partner. What had that just been about? What had they almost done!?  
  
"Yuhhh." Inuyasha responded in an equally as intellectual way. He glared at Kagome's front door intensely as the couple sat in silence for a few moments, making Kagome wonder if he was actually angry that whoever was on the other side of her door had broken up their little 'moment'.  
  
"I'll get it," she said softly, finally, getting to her feet and padding over to her door.  
  
"Hello?" she asked, opening the door and staring at the couple on the other side.  
  
"Kagome!" Miroku gasped, launching himself into the room and hugging the twenty year old fiercely. "You're all right! We were all so worried."  
  
"Figured we'd find you both here," Kaede said in her scratchy voice, hobbling into the room, and shaking her head in a knowing way.  
  
"Um - you did?" Kagome blurted in a clueless manner while Inuyasha stood up as well, wondering for the first time if anyone else in the office noticed the odd chemistry between she and her snowy haired partner. However, before she had any more time to think about this dangerous line of thought, she noticed the little bundle Kaede held in her arms.  
  
"Shippou?" Kagome asked, drawing herself away from Miroku as she felt his hand stray dangerously low on her back, and quickly traveling over to the little kitsune. "Why are you with Kaede and Miroku?"  
  
"When he heard that you and Inuyasha were under attack he insisted he come with us, to make sure that you were all right," Kaede explained as Shippou threw himself into Kagome's arms with no further hesitance.  
  
"I was so worried you were going to be eaten by the spiders!" he explained quickly, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.  
  
"Oh don't worry Shippou! Inuyasha saved me." Kagome explained with a small smile, making the hanyou behind her blush ever so slightly.  
  
"Ah - it wasn't that big a deal," Inuyasha said uneasily, folding his arms self-consciously.  
  
"Oh stop being so modest!" Kagome ordered, turning back to Miroku. "Do you know he got the Tetsusaiga to transform again?!" she said.  
  
"Is that so?" Miroku asked, looking at Inuyasha with wide eyes and a slightly impressed expression on his face. "You're learning very quickly with the sword in a very short period of time, aren't you Inuyasha? That's quite. interesting." He finished hesitantly, his gaze flicking over to an oblivious Kagome as Inuyasha frowned in a sort of understanding way.  
  
"Yeah. It is," he agreed warily.  
  
"Well Kagome, you gave us all quite a scare back there," Kaede said, plopping herself onto a stool by Kagome's white, tiled counter and making herself at home. "But at least you seem to be in pretty good shape - no serious damage done besides those little scratches, right?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. I'm fine." Kagome said with a weak smile. Kaede nodded approvingly, putting a hand on her knee.  
  
"Good. Then, would you mind informing Miroku and I about your most recent fight? I think I'd like to hear this from you now before the memory starts to fade, if that's all right," she said, staring at Kagome watchfully.  
  
"Um, no, that's all right - I can do it," Kagome said, shuddering internally and wondering silently if she really could. The mental wounds were all still very fresh, and it had been merely an hour since she was stuck in that dark, terrifying ally way. Could she really recount her misfortune before the scrapes along her legs had had time to stop throbbing?  
  
As Inuyasha shot her a concerned, warm glance meant only for her from the other side of the table, liquid gold meeting shimmering brown, she realized with a start that - why yes, she could pull this off.  
  
As long as he was there to protect her she had a feeling she could do anything.  
  
*  
  
It was a full two hours later before Kaede even made any mention of leaving the apartment.  
  
However, in that time, the group had recounted the entire attack - from both Kagome's and Inuyasha's point of view - and they had gone over exactly what was to be done upon returning to the office. Reports were to be handed in, of course, and another file would have to be written up about the miko Kagome Higurashi who had already received two indirect attempts on her life from the super villain Naraku.  
  
Then, of course, Kagome had admitted that she would like to have Inuyasha stay at her house as a personal bodyguard until the investigation was over.  
  
".Do you think that would be ok?" Kagome asked slowly, as though she didn't know what Kaede's shrewd smile meant, and as though she and Inuyasha hadn't already discussed the topic intimately. In fact, the only relatively surprised looking people in the room after Kagome's plucky request seemed to be Miroku and Shippou. Even then, Miroku just seemed more excited than anything.  
  
"Well, I personally think this is a GREAT idea," Miroku enthused, winking suggestively in Inuyasha's direction. The hanyou rolled his eyes heavenwards and glared off to the side in return - all of these disparaging actions helping greatly in his effort not to smirk.  
  
"As do I." Kaede said knowingly, smiling gently at Kagome's lightly bandaged form, and guessing already that the girl's big change of heart was in great part thanks to the terrifying experience she had recently described for everyone. It was no wonder she wanted a demon bodyguard after THAT. And Inuyasha didn't exactly look hesitant to give her exactly what she wanted, as well.  
  
"And YOU'RE all right with this, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked after a second, looking slightly shocked, and already knowing Inuyasha well enough to know that he usually wouldn't let himself be boxed into these sort of situations without a fight.  
  
There was a pause from the hanyou's corner, at which point everyone began to stare at him, before his golden eyes flashed briefly towards Kagome. She was the only person not looking at him - instead she was staring nervously at her hands, as though worried about what he might say. Didn't she realize he had meant what he said to her earlier?.  
  
"Yeah. I'm fine with it squirt, so just drop it. It's not a big deal. I'll just sleep here in the evenings, and I'll go to work with Kagome in the mornings. No problems. AND I can watch out for you too, in case Naraku decides your parents weren't enough. Two birds with one stone," Inuyasha said contentedly, folding his arms in satisfaction.  
  
"A good point," Kaede agreed approvingly, nodding her head.  
  
"Well, if that's settled," Miroku said, jumping off his stool and cracking his back. "I better be getting home then. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."  
  
"Quite. And I do believe it's Shippou's bedtime." Kaede added, raising an eyebrow in the small demon's direction. Shippou stuck his tongue out in response, hiding behind one of Kagome's legs.  
  
"I don't wanna go to bed," he said resolutely, glowering. Kagome gave off a smile that glowed and bent down to lift the kitsune up. Inuyasha attempted not to stare as he spotted Kagome hug Shippou close, murmuring encouraging words that seemed to force the little animal into a state of relaxation just by listening. She was so. comforting.  
  
"Come on Shippou. it's late. you've had a long day. I won't make you take a shower tonight if you go to bed with no fuss." she cajoled softly, as Miroku and Kaede nodded in Inuyasha's direction, backing away and towards the door - obviously assured that Kagome had things under control.  
  
"We'll see you bright and early tomorrow Inuyasha. Assignments for potential victims are being given out to partners first thing. and that means you and Kagome," Kaede reminded him as she slipped into her dark brown trench coat, her long silver pony tail sliding down her back.  
  
"Hey - what about me?" Miroku asked in confusion, he too reassembling himself as he approached the door. "If Kagome's got Inuyasha, whose going to be my partner?"  
  
"Don't worry, I have something figured out. Goodnight everybody," Kaede said, waving briefly to everyone in the room before disappearing into the hall, Miroku nodding his head at Inuyasha before he followed her. And as the door finally closed, the snowy haired half demon suddenly felt as though things were back to normal. As though he had just let some guests leave his house. even though HE was technically the guest, and Kagome and Shippou were just a few feet away, the real residents of the apartment. Sort of. When was the last time he had felt so at ease with other people in the room?  
  
'I haven't even spent one night here, and already I'm attached.' The usually aloof Inuyasha thought darkly, shaking his head. 'I've got to get a hold of myself; I'm letting Kagome make me feel too comfortable, in too short a period of time.' He acknowledged, now turning back around to observe the raven-haired girl as she tucked Shippou into the pullout couch bed, the kitsune's eyes already heavy with sleep, as any normal child's would be at this time of night. How had the hours slid by so fast?  
  
"Well, it's just us again." Kagome said softly, raising herself off the bed and walking towards Inuyasha, curiously observing the small, easy grin on his face she was not accustomed to seeing. Usually when she talked to the agent, he had a scowl, or at least a carefully neutral expression on his features. She was not used to this lazy, almost content attitude she saw on him. However - she regrettably let too much of her bewilderment show, and almost immediately Inuyasha looked tense and irritable again, as was the norm.  
  
"Yeah," he agreed, folding his arms. "You - uh, want me over tonight. right?" he asked cautiously, deeply aware that being over presumptuous in this sort of situation could result in many awkward moments, and realizing that he, not being the most eloquent of people, had better be extra careful about what he said from there on out.  
  
"Of course!" Kagome was quick to assure him, pulling awkwardly on the bottom of her shirt and glancing around the room, as though searching for something. "But - where do you want to sleep tonight? If you want, you could have my bed, and I'll sleep with Shippou. The pull-out couch is pretty big so it's all right," she suggested.  
  
"No - no it's okay. I can sleep with Shippou," Inuyasha automatically replied, completely aware that sleeping in Kagome's bed at night might just drive him over the edge. With his sensitive nose, her flowery scent would probably keep him up until the wee hours of the morning. "The brat doesn't annoy me that much," he added.  
  
"Right," Kagome giggled. "Well. how do you want to do this then?"  
  
"I figure I should stop back at my apartment and grab some things - I'll be back as soon as I can, and probably with my car. You don't have one, do you? I can drive us to work in the morning," he explained.  
  
"Oh no, I have one. But - uh - using yours would probably be a better idea," Kagome admitted, thinking about her pathetic little Ford Escort with a sigh.  
  
"All right. I'll be back in a bit then." Inuyasha said, about to head over to the coat rack to get his leather jacket - before realizing he wasn't wearing one. He had left the office in such a hurry upon realizing Kagome was in danger, he hadn't even bothered to don his impressive bullet proof jacket.  
  
"Wait - take some keys in case I'm asleep when you get back," Kagome suggested, handing him a key chain with a little rubberducky on it.  
  
"Oh, thanks," Inuyasha said, observing the key chain with some amusement. "I'll be back as soon as I can,"  
  
And with that he was gone, down the stairs, through the lobby and out the door - speeding towards his apartment across town undoubtedly. But as Kagome slid into bed, dressed in her flannel pajamas, and with her hair pulled back into a messy bun, she realized that she needn't have given Inuyasha her keys. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep until he had come back, anyway, and she would probably be waiting up for him until she heard his keys jingling at the front door. Kagome just didn't feel safe anymore unless Inuyasha was around.  
  
*  
  
"Ow! Hot! Hot!" Kagome hissed as Inuyasha pulled away from the drive up window the next morning, the steaming cup of coffee in her hands she had just received splashing about, and some of it landing in her lap.  
  
"Oh, sorry," Inuyasha commented apologetically, smoothly steering his convertible black Lexus back into the street, a tray of McDonald's fast food breakfast sitting next to him. In the passenger's seat, Kagome mopped up her lap with a napkin, sighing. A wonderful start to a great day, for sure.  
  
"It's all right. Shippou, you want your hotcakes?" the twenty year old asked the kitsune in the back seat, proffering a package of disgusting, greasy pancakes to the demon. He snatched them from her greedily.  
  
"Yeah - but why do you guys get coffee, and I have to have orange juice?" he asked irately, biting into his breakfast with a small frown.  
  
"Because the last thing YOU need, my friend, is caffeine," Inuyasha said simply, shaking his head as Kagome smiled in amusement next to him.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shippou snapped.  
  
"It means if you get any more hyper than you already are every day, I'll have to maim you." He replied easily.  
  
"Heyyy!"  
  
"Come on Inuyasha, it's too early," Kagome groaned, not ready for another fight between the two demons as she sipped her black coffee slowly. Usually the college student liked to add a healthy amount of sugar and milk to her daily caffeine pick-me-up - but physical and mental injuries from the other day were all urging her to go black that day.  
  
In truth, Inuyasha had confided in Kagome that morning that no one would hold it against her if she decided not to come to work the next day - but Kagome decided she didn't want to put off getting back to work and writing up a report about the spider-head incident, and knew very well that staying home all day dwelling on her most recent traumatic experience would do her little to no good. It wasn't as though she couldn't function, in any case. Physically, it was all just a bunch of overly bandaged scratches.  
  
"Whatever," Inuyasha muttered.  
  
As thought, Kagome had laid in bed last night, wide-awake, until Inuyasha had returned to the apartment an hour later. She had listened to him move around her house, stopping in the bathroom, unzipping his bag of clothing, getting changed for bed . and she eventually drifted off, lulled to sleep by the sounds of his assured presence.  
  
And now the trio was heading to work; Kagome feeling a lot as though she were driving to school with her family, as the group all squabbled and talked to one another as a family did, and sometimes, Kagome noticed, radiated the warm feelings a family did as well. Sometimes.  
  
'It's like Shippou's the kid, I'm the mom, and Inuyasha's the dad.' Kagome thought shyly, almost too embarrassed to even say the notion in her head. However, as she watched Inuyasha discreetly try to chuck a hash brown back at Shippou from the front seat, she reconsidered her idea. 'Or maybe it's more like Inuyasha's the older brother.'  
  
"Hey, something wrong Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, spying the pretty girl staring at him from the corner of his eye.  
  
'I wonder what people will think when they find out he's living with me,' Kagome wondered silently, her raven hair getting blown about her face. 'They'll probably think he's my boyfriend.'  
  
"Helllooo." Inuyasha said, waving one clawed hand in front of her face, and letting his other steer the car. "Anyone home?"  
  
'Yeah right. My boyfriend? Please.' "Nothing Inuyasha, I'm just tired," Kagome said easily, taking another gulp of her coffee.  
  
"All right," Inuyasha said, turning back to the road and shrugging Kagome's odd behavior off. Actually, considering what sort of shape Kagome had been in last night, her attitude this morning was above average. He should have known she'd make a speedy recovery from her harrowing episode in the ally though - Kagome didn't strike him as the type of girl who let something as silly as almost being torn to shreds by spider demons get her down.  
  
A few minutes later, as Kagome approached the agency's entrance, walking through the underground garage and towards the elevator with Shippou by her side and Inuyasha just behind her, another thought occurred to the newly instated agent; What WOULD people think when they saw Inuyasha with her? Shippou had been one problem, what with his appearance, and it now occurred to her that Inuyasha was going to be no different with his ears and hair. but .  
  
"Inuyasha, what do you do when humans ask you why you have fangs and claws and stuff?" Kagome asked as the elevator started to move, the people she was most worried about when it came to this area being her family. She could not see them accepting the fact that she was living with a demon - especially her grandfather, who actually believed in such things.  
  
"Well, I just try to stay away from mortal hang outs in the first place, so I can avoid those types of questions. There are areas of the city just for demons, ya know," he replied, while Shippou licked the last remains of syrup from his paws.  
  
"No, I didn't. But I mean, the questions must be inevitable sometimes, so what do you do when asked?" she pressed, pushing the bit of information about specialized demon areas of the city to the back of her mind for later questioning.  
  
"Sometimes I tell them it's a birth defect. Sometimes I tell the smarter people it's a costume. And sometimes I just tell them to fuck off," Inuyasha answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Um, no reason," Kagome said nervously, realizing that none of the above explanations were going to suit her mother - not to mention Keiko and Kiki. (Both of whom, she had to remind herself, she was supposed to see that night at the new sushi bar.) However, it felt wrong to ask Inuyasha to hide his appearance in front of her family and friends when he was doing her a favor by staying in her house. He shouldn't have to be ashamed of what he looked like when he couldn't help it - but the fact of the matter was she just didn't know what else to do.  
  
'I guess the only solution is to wait until I have to cross that bridge before I start to worry about it - and maybe just make sure everyone stays away from my apartment for the next couple months. Oh, jeez.'  
  
"Well, I know I always -" Shippou started, just before the elevator doors opened, and the deafening sound of many people talking loudly all at once attacked the surprised trio's ears, making Inuyasha especially annoyed. What was going on?  
  
The Agency's office looked like a war zone - people everywhere were rushing around hectically, shouting excitedly to one another, and whispering fervently in corners. Kagome had never seen the demon agents all so distracted, and she had to admit it was slightly unnerving. Something was up.  
  
"What's happening?" Kagome asked loudly.  
  
"Let me find out," Inuyasha answered, marching through the crowds and grabbing a random agent by the shoulder, spinning him around. "Hey you, what's happening here?"  
  
"Um - well they just gave all of the agents their assigned potential victims to protect," the slightly confused demon replied; a horse demon by the looks of it.  
  
"That's all?" Inuyasha asked incredulously.  
  
"Oh - Mr. Sesshomaru stopped by this morning, looking like he was on a warpath! He was really frightening. hey aren't you his-"  
  
"Dammit!" Inuyasha growled, obviously having found his answer, and shoving past the flustered demon and directly towards Kaede's office. A confused Kagome followed after him, lifting Shippou up into her arms so that he wouldn't get lost in the crowd. The assignments for potential victims had already been given out? And who was Sesshomaru?  
  
"Inuyasha, what did he mean about that Sesshomaru person?" Kagome called to her partner as he neared Kaede's office, desperately trying not to loose him as he stormed through the halls at an impressive speed. What was the rush?  
  
"Forget about it!" he called back sharply, throwing open Kaede's door and entering the office. Kagome paused just outside the door as it slammed itself shut, unsure of whether or not to follow Inuyasha any longer, as he seemed to be quite angry, and generally, she had found, when Inuyasha got angry he only further upset the people around him.  
  
Kagome glanced down at Shippou, who was staring back up at her with a mischievous look on his face. And as the sound of raised voices began to waft out from inside the room, the duo both nodded at each other, pushing open the door once more - their curiosity piqued.  
  
Kagome had expected to see Inuyasha leaning over Kaede's desk, muttering angry words at her, as the girl knew the agent had no scruples with talking back to his superiors. And she had also expected to see that highly irritated frown on Kaede's face, as she knew, in addition, that Kaede didn't appreciate being talked back to. But what Kagome hadn't expected. was to see another dog demon, standing next to Inuyasha, wearing possibly the most expensive suit she had ever seen in her life.  
  
"Hell, if he has a problem with it, just leave the dumb bast-" Inuyasha was saying in a growl, before everyone's heads swung around to stare at Kagome and Shippou, two sets of matching golden eyes glaring at the couple. Shippou gulped, and Kagome took an unconscious step back. Yeesh.  
  
"And who might you two be?" the new demon asked, in a voice as cold and emotionless as ice. Kagome blinked back, sizing the demon up in her head with her miko powers, and finding to her surprise that his entire form was nearly dripping with observable power. Just who was this guy?  
  
The male demon was admittedly attractive, Kagome had to admit, though in an almost feminine manner, as his features were as perfectly chiseled as that of a beautiful woman's. But his voice was deep and masculine, and he stood at at least 6'6 with very broad shoulders. His Armani suit made him look dashing and a bit intimidating to the awestruck girl wearing a pair of black peddle pushers and a dark green sweater, especially as she noticed his clawed hands by his side. Why, with his silver hair that hung down to his waist, he could have been Inuyasha's brother.  
  
"Mr. Sesshomaru, I would like you to meet Kagome Higurashi - a miko in training, and your brother's new partner." Kaede said after an awkward pause, where Inuyasha looked tempted to step protectively in front of the surprised girl, as though worried what Sesshomaru would do to her.  
  
"Inuyasha - this man is your real brother!?" Kagome blurted, Shippou's eyes widening dramatically.  
  
"Holy cow!" he squeaked, obviously impressed with the new dog demon's appearance as well.  
  
"Half brother." Sesshomaru was quick to assure Kagome, his gaze flitting back to his younger brother, the expression on his face condescending. "After all, Inuyasha is only a half demon."  
  
'That's right,' Kagome realized, watching Inuyasha simmer dangerously at Sesshomaru's obviously cruel jab. 'Miroku mentioned that Inuyasha had a half brother who was a full demon - and that he wasn't well liked, to boot.'  
  
Looking at the demon again, there were now obvious differences to Sesshomaru that distinguished him from his halfling brother. For starters, Inuyasha looked more like a dog with his puppy ears that Sesshomaru lacked, and Inuyasha had no dark stripes on either of his cheeks as the full demon did - a mark Kagome had seen on other full demons around the office as well. It was rather fascinating to compare the other differences between the two, such as what looked to be large, fluffy tail wrapped around Sesshomaru's shoulders, but she hesitated as she realized both brothers knew they were being sized up, and were staring back at her intently. "S- sorry," Kagome quickly stuttered, blushing and bowing her head. "It's just very interesting to see Inuyasha's brother."  
  
"Hn." Sesshomaru commented disdainfully, turning away from Kagome and leaving her feeling a bit offended for some reason. It was his air - he spoke and looked as though everyone were beneath him - although she supposed, to a demon, she was.  
  
"Well, Inuyasha, all I can say is I hope you keep this one for a little more than a few months. Your last miko partner didn't hold up very well at all, did she?" Sesshomaru asked archly of the man next to him. Kagome mentally groaned, as she knew that Sesshomaru had touched upon a very sore spot in Inuyasha's psyche - even SHE had been forbidden to mention Kikyo or Inuyasha's past with her.  
  
"You BASTARD!" Inuyasha roared predictably, launching himself at Sesshomaru with no sort of hesitance whatsoever. And even to Kagome's untrained eye she could tell the attack was sloppy and fueled mainly by pure rage - however Kagome also knew that if she had been on the receiving end of that attack she would have been flattened anyway, simply because Inuyasha was so physically powerful.  
  
On the other hand, Sesshomaru didn't seem to have any problems with simply sidestepping the angry lunge, and blocking any further punches with quick flicks of his hand that seem to disappear and reappear in the exact places Inuyasha was hitting. He was incredibly fast, and possibly more skilled than Inuyasha himself. The thought made Kagome shiver.  
  
"Excuse me! Stop it! No fighting in my office!" Kaede roared above the sounds of Inuyasha's infuriated growls, and angry punches. Neither demon showed any signs of hearing the elderly mortal though, as Sesshomaru finally took some initiative and zipped forward, backhanding Inuyasha so hard the agent quickly slammed into the ground, coughing violently.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, running over to her fallen partner and helping him to sit up. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine," Inuyasha said gruffly, batting Kagome's hand away and sitting up on his own, obviously embarrassed that Kagome had seen him so badly brushed aside like that. However, Kagome didn't seem to be in any way ashamed of Inuyasha - she was just furious with Sesshomaru.  
  
"How can you treat your brother that way!?" she demanded, her chocolate eyes flashing. "Insulting him about his poor partner, which you obviously know pains him - and then brawling with him in Ms. Kaede's office? Who do you think you are?" she asked in a very brash, Kagome-like fashion, not even commenting on the fact that it had actually been Inuyasha who started the scuffle.  
  
"I think the question is girl, who do YOU think YOU are?" Sesshomaru replied evenly, in a voice that never rose or fell an octave. The sound made Kagome tremble slightly, but she ignored it and continued to glare bravely at the full demon before her. She hardly even noticed as Inuyasha got to his feet and left her kneeling on the ground.  
  
"I think you should go, Sesshomaru," Inuyasha said evenly, obviously trying to control his rage under a mask of indifference. "The FBI is only sending out those agents for your protection; why send them away?"  
  
"I don't NEED sniveling FBI scum around to protect me, little brother," Sesshomaru spat in disgust, folding his arms and completely forgetting about Kagome once more. From behind her desk Kaede sighed, and rested her cheek in her hand.  
  
"But Sesshomaru, they are not hassling you in any way." The elderly detective reasoned. "They are merely monitoring your property. Many of our potential victims have agents actually inside their houses, undercover, and you don't even have that. Please just let us do this - you may be the key to catching Naraku and we need all the help we can get. If he comes after you."  
  
"If he comes after me, I can get rid of Naraku myself. Your agents are inadequate anyway, obviously." Sesshomaru stated flatly, nodding towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha clenched his fists in response and Kagome's jaw dropped. Could this guy be any more hostile?  
  
"I don't see what you're worrying about, Kaede," Inuyasha said sharply, baring his fangs. "There's no way Naraku would come after this jerk. You said he only goes after demons with PURE souls, right? Heh, Sesshomaru is probably the safest demon for miles around, in that case," the agent finished hotly. Sesshomaru smirked at Inuyasha, the first real expression Kagome had seen on his face, and it made the girl frightened because of the unregulated anger it held in it. Shippou whimpered and ran behind Inuyasha's legs.  
  
"Maybe you should shut up Inuyasha, eh?" Shippou suggested quietly.  
  
"I'm not afraid of this guy. He's just a bully. Always has been," Inuyasha said, shrugging and looking at his brother through lidded eyes. Sesshomaru's smirk grew, and he spun away from the desk quickly, exiting the office.  
  
"Perhaps you're right, little brother. Perhaps I AM quite safe. And in that case, there is no reason to send any more agents to my estate. No, Detective Kaede?" He closed the door shut behind him, and was gone.  
  
"Right." Kaede sighed, leaning back in her chair and shaking her head after Sesshomaru had left. "That guy gets me every time. I really don't know what we're going to do about him. but maybe we'll get lucky and Naraku will just avoid him."  
  
"I hope so! I don't want to see that guy again any time soon," Kagome gasped, collapsing into one of the two chairs in front of Kaede's desk, once it was apparent the demon was truly gone. "He was crazy! Did you see how strong he was?"  
  
"Yeah! He was really powerful!" Shippou added enthusiastically.  
  
"Oh, and if you think that's bad, you should see him when he's serious," Kaede laughed humorlessly, grabbing some files off her desk and sifting through the cabinets to her right. "But, don't let him get to you. He does this sometimes when the FBI tries to meddle in his affairs - he's a very private man. Besides, I have something for you and Inu-"  
  
"Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted, looking at the girl sharply as Shippou climbed into the seat next to Kagome. The half-demon had been silent since his brother's exit, and now he seemed to be very curious about something.  
  
"Yes, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked pleasantly, twisting around in her seat to look at him.  
  
"How did you. know about Kikyo?" he asked slowly, something undefined swimming through his eyes and making him look very somber.  
  
"Oh - I." Kagome mentally slapped her forehead - she had forgotten she wasn't supposed to know about Kikyo! Kaede was going to be so mad.  
  
"I told her," Kaede interrupted unexpectedly, folding her wrinkly hands and staring at Inuyasha. "I told her all about Kikyo a couple days ago. I thought she deserved to know since she's your new partner,"  
  
"I - I see." Inuyasha said, averting his gaze with a frown, and looking as though he would have preferred it very much if Kaede had just kept her mouth shut. "I have to go," he added quickly, briskly exiting the room and slamming the door behind him before Kagome had a chance to hold him back.  
  
"Inu - oh! What's wrong with that man now?" the confused girl asked, sinking back down in her chair and rubbing her aching forehead. She'd only been in the office for around a half-hour, and already the dilemmas were piling up.  
  
"I'm sorry, this is my fault. Inuyasha is just feeling a bit violated right now, I'm sure. He doesn't like to talk about his past," Kaede said wearily, wondering why this Monday had started out so wretchedly bad for her.  
  
"I noticed," Kagome muttered, folding her arms. Kaede forced a smile for the confused looking girl, and took out a manila folder from her desk, sliding it over to the miko sitting across from her.  
  
"He might have wanted to tell you about her in his own time, but I think it's good that you know now. Well. he'll have forgotten about the whole thing by this afternoon in any case. Now, your assignment."  
  
"Right, who are we going to be guarding?" Kagome asked with interest, shaking her head and concentrating on the matters at hand. She had a job to do. Inuyasha's pained expression was driving her nuts, but she did have a job to do, and one more class to go to tonight before the winter break was on . and then it was celebratory sushi with the girls, and possibly a long, long conversation with her mother - right. She was ready.  
  
"A rich heir who lives in the area. You and Inuyasha will be needing to go undercover for this one, and you'll probably be maids and servants in the mansion this demon lives for the time being," Kaede explained, as Kagome sifted through the contents of the folder.  
  
"A mansion? Whoa, this guy must be loaded."  
  
"He is, and he's a bit of a son of a bitch too - but that's just what the locals in the area say. He lives uptown, and you'll be starting on your assignment tomorrow. It took some time to convince this guy to let you both in as undercover guards in his own home, since he had been taking it much the same way as Sesshomaru did. Luckily, his family 'O.K'd it for us - so now there's not much he can do about it,"  
  
"Sounds like he's going to be trouble," Kagome sighed, as Shippou looked over her shoulder at the files about Kagome and Inuyasha's potential victim. "Are you sure he has a soul pure enough for Naraku to want?"  
  
"Yes. Don't be fooled by his cocky exterior - he's a good guy who's done a lot for the community, and he has a formidable amount of power. Just the kind of guy Naraku would be very interested in," Kaede said darkly.  
  
*  
  
"So, you actually met Sesshomaru, hu?" Miroku asked Kagome as the couple sat down to eat in the cafeteria, Shippou away with an agent assigned to baby-sit him that day, and Inuyasha off somewhere Kagome couldn't find him. (Much to her chagrin.)  
  
"Confronted, is more like. I guess I maybe was a little rude to him, but I was just surprised to see him - and then he insulted Inuyasha so badly! I had to do something." Kagome explained with a sigh, biting into her hamburger as other agents milled around the dining area, going over their files for potential victims and still feeling a little excited.  
  
"You're telling me that you actually YELLED at Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked, shocked.  
  
"Well, yeah. He was being a real jerk!" Kagome reminded the monk. "If you had been there you would have done the same thing,"  
  
"No, I wouldn't have. Sesshomaru is president of one of the largest demon firms in all of Japan, and he's one rich bastard. Inherited the family business and a whole lot of land from his mother, and some from his father - and now he's a demon to be reckoned with. Rumor has it; he's so powerful he could take down 100 demons single handedly if forced to. Plus, let me tell you, you would NOT want to meet this guy in the courtroom. He's a monster of a lawyer! So to speak," Miroku explained to the wide-eyed Kagome.  
  
"God, he sounds terrible. All that money and that cold attitude? No wonder Inuyasha hates him. But - hey, if Sesshomaru inherited all that from his parents, what about Inuyasha?" Kagome asked curiously, wondering if her hanyou friend was holding back on her, and if he really lived on HIS own estate somewhere in upper class Tokyo like his half brother.  
  
'If that's the case - why don't Shippou and I just stay at his place?' she thought with a small smile.  
  
"Well, you have to understand that Inuyasha doesn't like to throw his money around like Sesshomaru does. He's not into the glamour like Mr. Ihavemoremoneythanyouhavebraincells - but he IS pretty wealthy." Miroku said.  
  
"Really? I had no idea." Kagome said in wonder.  
  
"What, you think that black Lexus came out of his ass? However, keep in mind Inuyasha isn't half as rich as his brother, since Inuyasha's mother was no where near as successful as Sesshomaru's. In fact, Inuyasha's human mother was just a shop owner downtown - a humble mortal his powerful demon father became smitten with," Miroku said in a dreamy voice, making Kagome laugh.  
  
"That sounds romantic." She commented.  
  
"Well, it got a whole lot of people in the upper levels of the pecking order of the demon world pretty pissed, let me tell you. Especially when Inuyasha was born. And then both of his parents died when he was pretty young. and times were tough," the monk admitted.  
  
"I'm sure Sesshomaru was no help to Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled, feeling a large amount of sympathy for Inuyasha as she learned more and more about his confusing past. What a terrible childhood he must have had! No wonder he was a prick sometimes.  
  
"I don't know, Inuyasha doesn't like to talk about him a lot. In fact, Inuyasha doesn't like to talk about ANYTHING a lot. What I'm telling you is highly secretive information, because if Inuyasha knew I was telling you his little tear jerking family history, he'd have words with me. So, let's keep this on the down low, okay?" Miroku requested, looking both ways and speaking to Kagome with one hand shielding his mouth. Kagome quickly nodded her assent, not in any hurry to get Inuyasha angry at her again for finding out more about his past.  
  
"Of course not. Besides, that's not what I want to talk about with Inuyasha right now, anyway. say, would you have any idea where he is?"  
  
*  
  
Kagome forced open the door to the roof of the FBI agency with her shoulder, cradling two cups of coffee in her arms as a harsh wind brutally attacked her the second she stepped out of the building. She shivered against the cold hair and quickly searched the roof's large, empty grounds with quick brown eyes, glad she had decided to at least not wear a miniskirt again that day.  
  
Spotting her prey sitting by a ledge of the concrete roof off to the side, Kagome smiled lightly and quickly jogged over to her partner, glad Miroku knew Inuyasha so well. According to the monk, whenever the demon wanted to brood in complete privacy, this was where he went.  
  
Inuyasha sensed Kagome approaching before he saw her, his long white hair whipping dramatically around his face as he turned to gaze at the girl dispassionately, even as she proffered her peace offering to him with a smile - a nice, steaming cup of coffee. He frowned at her appearance, and obviously resented the fact that his total solitude had been violated.  
  
However, Kagome didn't seem to feel guilty about invading his space at all; after all, Inuyasha had been up on the roof all afternoon already, and soon Kagome had to go to her last college class before winter break; Ancient Art of the Golden Age of Japan with Hojo and Kiki. After that she probably wouldn't see Inuyasha until much later since she was eating out with her friends, and wanted to get the whole mess about Kikyo cleared up before she left so that it wouldn't weigh heavily upon her for the rest of the day. For, as much as the History major felt as though Inuyasha's bout of anger and self-pity was unnecessary. she also felt rather guilty for dredging up bad memories for him, and perhaps talking it all out would put her own mind at ease.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked tactlessly, taking the coffee quickly and resting his arm on his leg.  
  
"I came up here to talk to you about Kikyo," Kagome said with just as much grace, standing directly in front of Inuyasha and leaving him with no way out of the conversation - except for one escape rout off the ledge of the 30-something floor building. and it was very odd to Kagome that she felt she knew for a fact that Inuyasha would attempt to make that jump if their intimate discussion got too personal for his liking.  
  
"I don't want to discuss it," Inuyasha replied flatly, scowling and rolling his shoulders in an agitated manner.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry Inuyasha, but I already know all about her now. It's too late to keep what happened to Kikyo a secret from me - but I think it would help me understand the incident better if you were to explain what happened from your point of view," Kagome explained, her tone soft and careful.  
  
"What does it matter to you, anyway?" Inuyasha demanded, his demeanor more closed off than Kagome had seen it for the past couple of days. She had thought that they had both grown closer than this - this level of impersonal jabs and badly kept secrets; but apparently they hadn't. It was like, for every step forward two steps backwards! Sure, he was living with her, but he refused to talk to her about anything having to do with his life!  
  
"What does it matter to me? She was your old partner, and now I'm your new one! She was the only other miko on the force, as I now am, and was also a target for some dark magic - like I am! I want to know what happened to her from you, since I'm sure you'd know best, and not just because it could help me stay better protected in case she has anything to do with my current situation - but because the incident is obviously paining you, even after all this time." Kagome explained all in one large breath, her eyes glowing with an intensity that captivated Inuyasha.  
  
"It's only been two years," Inuyasha reminded her in a much quieter tone, averting his gaze and obviously feeling very uncomfortable now that Kagome had effectively knocked down his defenses. Kagome sighed and kneeled by him, placing her coffee down.  
  
"Listen, you don't have to tell me if you really don't want to, but I just thought it might be good if you told at least ME about Kikyo, seeing as how we're going to be working together, and I have a feeling she's going to come up now and again. I just don't want there to be an awkward gap between us, and I'm tired of tiptoeing around the topic of her whenever I'm near you - pretending like I don't know and it doesn't matter. Because it does," Kagome admitted. Inuyasha sighed with a wry smile on his face, raking a hand through his long hair before speaking.  
  
"And the weird thing is, you don't know how right you are to be worried about all this." he admitted.  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I mean that you're right to pick up on the weird coincidences between you and Kikyo, as I personally think they're very important as well. I don't know if Kaede has noticed it yet, but I do believe there is a connection between you and Kikyo, indirectly, and it's not a good one." Inuyasha explained, speaking in one of his most serious tones.  
  
"Really?" Kagome asked, suddenly feeling slightly worried.  
  
"Really. I . didn't want to bring it up because thinking about Kikyo is still. very hard for me. She was my first real partner and we parted on such nasty terms I don't even like to mention her name much anymore. I had been avoiding thinking about her, but I think in doing so I let myself be blinded to something things I should have addressed earlier; some things that might make recent events more understandable." Inuyasha said slowly.  
  
"Inuyasha, what are you talking about? What sort of things?" Kagome asked, sounding a bit panicked now, and putting her hand on Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha looked at her hand, so small and pale on his dark suit, yet still strong and firm, determined not to let go till she knew everything she had come for. She shared so many things with Kikyo.  
  
"I think that Kikyo was also tangled up with Naraku, and that he had some part in her destruction and eventual fleeing of the country,"  
  
*  
  
A sharp knocking brought Kaede's attention to the large, wooden door of her office. Sighing, and anticipating who it would be on the other side, she pushed away the large pile of paperwork that had accumulated on her desk from the morning, when she had received a surprise visit from the accomplished demon business tycoon Sesshomaru. Wherever that intolerable man went, paperwork inevitably followed him, and currently Kaede was filling out a number of documents sent to her by Sesshomaru's own lawyers. Documents that put very distinct boundaries on how close the FBI was allowed to get to the high-ranking demon, and how much poking around they could do. Damn him.  
  
"Come in," she called.  
  
"Kaede, I hope you don't think you're going to get away with this!" Miroku demanded, immediately launching himself towards Kaede's desk upon entering her clustered corner office.  
  
"Get away with what." She asked flatly, staring at Miroku for a beat before returning to her paperwork, feeling very worn out suddenly. Now even Miroku, usually one of her better mannered agents, was turning against her? What a day.  
  
"With confining me to desk work for all of the Naraku case! I know Inuyasha and I are no longer partners, but I have been with this job from the very beginning, and I refuse to stick around the office all day now just because Inuyasha has someone new. I want to be out there and in the action." He explained fiercely, folding his arms and standing resolutely in front of Kaede.  
  
"I never intended to make you stick around the office. I have no idea where you got that idea." Kaede said without looking up, her tone dry.  
  
"Oh." Miroku said, arms dropping and his posture slacking somewhat. "Well. I just assumed you were going to because you hadn't given me an assignment yet like everyone else. and you already paired up Kagome and Inuyasha." He reasoned.  
  
"'To assume makes an ass out of u and me.'" Kaede reminded him briskly. "I would never make you do desk work Miroku - you may be one of the only humans on this part of the FBI force, but you're also one of our strongest agents. I have more respect for you than that," she added, looking up briefly and making the poor monk feel even guiltier for exploding on Kaede than before. So much for those meditative skills he had picked up; he had just thought the worse when no paperwork about his potential victim to guard had shown up in his mailbox like everyone else, and there had been no emails concerning a new partner for him - or at least permission to work solo.  
  
"Oh. Right. Thank you. but, if I am going to be working as a field agent on this case, whom shall I partner up with? Do I get to work it alone perhaps?" he asked, a slight edge of hope in his voice. No offense to the other demons in his area, but he really didn't work well with many other agents except Inuyasha. Many of them were too far below his own skill level, and magical experience, even if they were full demons.  
  
"Don't rush me, I have it all worked out. I have a partner for you who will be coming down especially for this case, and in fact I was just waiting for them when you so rudely barged in. They're to meet me for a lunch date, and I wanted to wait to give you the assignment because I think this person would appreciate it more if we all went over the victim's stats together." Kaede admitted, rubbing her temples and frowning. Miroku nodded in understanding and took a seat, dusting off his black pants.  
  
"Well, who is it then? Is it someone not affiliated with the FBI?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Sort of," Kaede said, a smirk tugging at her thin lips.  
  
"Well, who then?" Miroku pressed, tired of Kaede's game. He had not been partnered with anyone other than Inuyasha for the past two years, and he was admittedly a little nervous about suddenly receiving a new colleague.  
  
"Oh don't be so impatient. And don't take me pulling you and Inuyasha apart personally. I really hadn't anticipated doing that, in all honesty, it's just that he and Kagome have a sort of chemistry that's worked well for them so far. I think Inuyasha does well with mikos," she admitted with a shrug. Miroku sighed in defeat.  
  
"I'd have to admit he does. And they DO work well together, even I can tell. In fact, with a little more training for Kagome - they could be the best pair we've seen around here in some time. It's just a little disconcerting for me, you must understand," he said, resting his cheek in his hand.  
  
"Of course. And - oh. Here they are," Kaede said, interrupted by the sound of a loud knocking at the door.  
  
"That's your lunch date? My partner?" Miroku asked as he got to his feet politely, and Kaede shuffled over to the door.  
  
"Yep," she replied, a secretive smile tugging at her lips. Miroku nodded carefully and kept his eyes glued to the door with interest, crossing his fingers behind his back and praying for someone at least adequate.  
  
But as the door opened, revealing the form of a woman, his violet eyes flashed with surprise and grew wide, his handsome features contorting into a shocked expression. His fists clenched by his sides and he totally missed Kaede's amused chuckle.  
  
"You." he breathed.  
  
"Hello Kaede," the woman said respectfully, almost purposefully focusing only on the old woman who had answered the door, while adjusting one of the thick leather straps on her shoulder. A smile graced full pink lips. "It's been a while,"  
  
Kaede beamed at Sango - the tall woman wearing the long coat and jeans at the door. She had her hair up in a high ponytail, and had the attractive features of a female in her early twenties. Gray eyes flashed with energy and passion. and on her back she seemed to be sporting a rather large and heavy boomerang carved from bone.  
  
"Too long," Kaede replied, as Miroku continued to stare at his old friend with astonishment and something akin to fear.  
  
*  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Well, I did it! I finally finished this chapter after almost three months after my supposed deadline was set - AND I got both Sesshomaru and Sango in there as promised. (It was a very tight squeeze with Sango, did you notice?) I'm afraid I've been totally messing up this story because of my writer's block with tends to make me screw around with the plot in ways I shouldn't, and later regret. So if you catch anything that seems weird or out of place in this chapter please tell me about it so I can smack my head and realize what an idiot I've been.  
  
I'm not going to make anymore promises about due dates for my next chapter since I obviously can't stick to them and they just make me nervous, however I will say that the next fic you're probably going to see updates from is not this one. Most likely Our Maze Of Dreams will have a new chapter out soon. and then maybe in a few months I can get around to posting new stuff for Bitten.  
  
Something else that's been bothering me - I'm doing this all too fast! The relationships that have evolved in this story thus far don't really work with the small time frame I've created, and I've actually been having to cut out a lot of romantic scenes from Bitten because I'm such a WAFFY person at heart and, when it gets right down to it, I just want to make Kagome and Inuyasha end up together fast. Well. whatever. I'm sure not too many people are going to be upset about that.  
  
Thanks for reading and waiting and PLEASE review because it would make me happy!  
  
~Rio Grande 


	8. The First Mission

Hey all,  
  
Thanks for the wonderful reviews! They made me really happy, and I'm sorry I took so long updating.  
  
I don't actually have anything to say to everyone (For a change.) Except, maybe, understand that the story is going to start taking a darker tone now as we approach the end, so don't expect as many slapstick scenes. And we're not really approaching the end, either. We're only halfway. But whatever.  
  
I don't own Inuyasha and enjoy.  
  
*  
  
- In chapter four I said that Inuyasha doesn't drink coffee. Last chapter he had some with Kagome. No one caught this error, (Except for TheWhitePrincess1 and Sakura Onto Hitomi!) but I noticed the error right after posting the chapter and just wanted to apologize for it anyway. From now on, he really doesn't like caffeine.  
  
*  
  
Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Eight: The First Mission  
  
*  
  
"You are a disgrace." Inuyasha spat contemptuously from his splayed out position on Kagome's couch, his golden eyes half lidded and displeased, his snow-white ears flat against his head.  
  
"What?" Kagome guffawed, her pale hands at her earlobe replacing her normal gold studs with small silver hoops, staring intently at her reflection in the full length mirror as she did so. "I don't see how going out with my friends on the first night of vacation makes me a disgrace in any sense of the word, Inuyasha. I haven't seen them in forever thanks to this job - and if I didn't know better I'd say you were overreacting about the whole thing." She continued with the ghost of a smile on her face, as though privately amused with Inuyasha's little display.  
  
"YOU - are a disgrace," the half demon repeated once more, undaunted. "What sort of an FBI agent goes out to have sushi with her college buddies the night before her first big assignment? We have things to do Kagome - a MISSION to prepare for! And frankly, I think you're showing a shocking lack of dedication to the FBI at the moment ..I don't know if I even want a partner who can't be committed to the case." He finished hotly, sitting up at glaring at the pretty twenty-year old from across the room.  
  
"Inuyasha, it's just one night! This was the last day of classes so my friends all wanted to celebrate - and besides if I don't see them occasionally they'll think something is up with me. And since I can't tell them what I really do all the time I can't look too suspicious by completely avoiding them. Going out with them now is the only way I can keep up appearances," Kagome said with a sense of finality to her tone, brushing invisible dust off her short brown skirt and smoothing out the collar of her maroon striped, button down t-shirt.  
  
"Feh, what a load of bull," Inuyasha grumped, rolling his eyes heavenwards.  
  
"Kagome, Kagome! - I found the necklace you wanted!" Shippou chirped enthusiastically, sliding into the room on all fours, a silver charm necklace on top of his head.  
  
"And to top it all off - you're making me baby-sit HIM for the rest of the night!" Inuyasha added, looking thoroughly disgusted with the world.  
  
"Thank you Shippou!" Kagome said cheerfully, leaning down and picking up the necklace, while patting the small kitsune on the head as thanks. "Now how do I look?" she asked once she had the clasp done, spinning around for the two demons who sat in her living room - one looking up at her with adoration - and the other with barely contained abhorrence.  
  
"Beautiful!" bubbled Shippou happily.  
  
"Trashy." snorted Inuyasha, averting his gaze.  
  
"Thank you Shippou.." Kagome sighed once more, rubbing her head with agitation and briskly traveling over to Inuyasha.  
  
"Hey - Ouch!" the hanyou barked, covering himself as Kagome slugged him across the head with a pillow.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't be such a monster sometimes!" Kagome cried, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at her partner. "I'm just going out for a few hours and then I swear I'll be back to help with Shippou!"  
  
"But I'm not supposed to be here just to protect Shippou.. if it was about him we could've kept him in a safe-house - but I'm supposed to protect you! How can I do that if you're out in the city somewhere, completely vulnerable?" Inuyasha demanded gruffly, frowning. Kagome shook her head and threw her hands up helplessly.  
  
"You're ridiculous. I just want to see my best friends! I'm surprised you even want me around so much at all." She added, wondering why Inuyasha's behavior was so over the top that Friday evening. Considering the recent turn of events - namely numerous attacks by lethal demons focused directly on her - a person would assume SHE would be the one insisting she never leave the house without a guard. Yet, that night, it seemed as though Inuyasha was taking on the roll of the cautious partner.  
  
"I didn't say I needed to be with you all the time. I just think it's very stupid of you to want to wander carelessly around Tokyo at night when you know very well that Naraku is out there, and probably has his eye on you right now. You could at least let me come along," Inuyasha reasoned.  
  
"No way! And have Keiko, Kiki and Hojo think you're my boyfriend? They'll be all over me about you Inuyasha, and they'll find out that you're living with me! Besides, if you went we'd have to bring Shippou, too - and neither of you look particularly human, keep in mind." Kagome reminded her partner, shaking her finger at Inuyasha, and apparently valuing her friend's opinions of her more than her own life. Inuyasha's golden eyes narrowed into two suspicious slits.  
  
"Who is Hojo?" he asked.  
  
"Oh come on," Kagome groaned, sensing the infuriatingly mistrustful tone in Inuyasha's voice. "He's been my friend for like, forever! We dated in high school but it's over now. So see, it's all going to be totally innocent and safe and I'll be perfectly fine for the 'big mission' tomorrow. And at the same time I'll be cooling everyone's suspicions about me turning into some reclusive hermit! Now if you'll excuse me I have to get going - and don't say anything else! You're acting like a jealous boyfriend." Kagome finished, knowing that her last jab would silence him - Inuyasha would never want anyone to consider that he and Kagome were an item - God forbid!  
  
Quickly, while the demon was still stunned, Kagome grabbed her messenger bag from the kitchen table and swiped the house keys from the pan by the front door.  
  
"That's ridiculous!" Inuyasha sputtered, obviously outraged.  
  
"Whatever! Bye Shippou - take care. Don't forget to feed Buyo and Inuyasha!" Kagome called out jovially before locking the door behind her, and heading towards the apartment elevator.  
  
"The NERVE of that bitch!" Inuyasha growled once Kagome had departed, throwing himself back into the couch and folding his arms, his lips forming a thin, angry line. He hated it when she got her way. "Barely two days ago she's on the verge of a mental breakdown and BEGGING me to never leave her - and suddenly, the second her friends give her a ring - she's totally hunky-dory again, completely setting herself up for another attack!" he continued crossly.  
  
"Ah.. you're just put out because she's going to meet her ex- boyfriend tonight. Stop whining." Shippou said flatly, hopping onto the couch next to the doughy cat Buyo and fixing Inuyasha with a steady gaze.  
  
"WHAT did you say, brat?" Inuyasha wanted to know, his eyes glinting dangerously.  
  
"Um.. nothing." Shippou decided to reply, wisely, crouching behind the fat calico for protection as he watched Inuyasha flex his impressive claws forebodingly.  
  
"That's what I thought," the demon agent responded in a much more controlled tone, relaxing once more, and staring up at the ceiling with a pensive expression on his face.  
  
'I don't like this at all..I thought she had gotten smarter than this..'  
  
*  
  
Admittedly, Kagome felt a little guilty about ditching Inuyasha. It had been quite a hard day for the man - what with his brother dropping in for a surprise visit earlier, and then having to deal with painful memories of Kikyo - but Kagome had promised Keiko some time ago that she would eat out with the gang that night, and seeing as how she had been consistently ditching her friends for the past two weeks, she figured she was pretty obligated to at least dine with them this once. It would only be for a few hours anyway, and then she'd go back to the apartment, and her lame excuse for a life.  
  
However there was something else that Inuyasha had brought up that gave the young woman pause as she briskly traveled towards 'Sushi-a-go-go' in her pea coat, her sneakers padding against the cold pavement, and her dark raven hair held back in a ponytail. Naraku.. Naraku was quickly becoming a larger, more dominant presence in her life as the days went by, and today had certainly been a turning point in that area. Kagome reflected on what Inuyasha had said to her on the roof, earlier that afternoon.  
  
'"I think that Kikyo was also tangled up with Naraku, and that he had some part in her destruction and eventual fleeing of the country,"'  
  
'It shouldn't bother me so much.. I never even knew Kikyo.. but the fact of the matter is I do share a lot of things with her that are probably making me more of a target for Naraku than I would have been already.' Kagome admitted with a mental sigh. 'At least, that's what Inuyasha feels.' She added glumly.  
  
'"You don't understand.. you look so much like her Kagome. And you're a miko! Which makes you the perfect victim for Naraku! Do you know how much negative power he could absorb into the shikon no tama if he killed you?" Inuyasha had asked, a pained expression washing over his face. Kagome had been confused, and more than a little shaken, at this point in the unsettling conversation.  
  
"B-but, as a miko, I'm supposed to have a lot of pure energy, right? How could Naraku get more negative energy from me than someone else?" she asked, almost fearfully.  
  
"When Naraku kills you in cold blood, your fear and anger taint your soul and miko powers, giving the shikon no tama a much more considerable dosage of negative power than if he had just killed a normal person, or even a normal demon. And Naraku knows this very well - that's why he went after Kikyo. And that's why he'd go after you."'  
  
Admittedly, Kagome had already known most of the information Inuyasha had told her; she had just never had it spelled out in such a chillingly clear way. It made her worry about her future, and how brief it might be if she wasn't careful.  
  
'Maybe Inuyasha was right. Maybe I should have stayed home tonight.' Kagome thought, clutching herself as she stood across the street from the restaurant, suddenly feeling very exposed in the busy mob of downtown Tokyo, where her miko senses were incredibly muffled by all of the different spirit energies filing around her - anyone could come up to her now with the intent to kill, and she wouldn't even be able to tell until it was too late. Crowds weren't always the safest place to be when you were a target for a murderer, she belatedly realized.  
  
It was funny how helpless Kagome tended to feel when her hanyou partner wasn't around..  
  
"Hey!" Someone shouted loudly, placing a hand on Kagome's shoulder and scaring the girl out of her skin.  
  
"Ah!" she shrieked, whirling around and slapping a hand to her mouth as she did so, chocolate brown eyes wide with fear.  
  
"Kagome? Are you all right? I'm sorry - did I scare you?" Hojo asked guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling apologetically as Kagome all but began to hyperventilate at the sight of the tall boy. "Gee, that's the second time I've done that to you in the past week. It seems every time we meet now I end up frightening you." Hojo mentioned lightly, cocking his head.  
  
"It's not your fault Hojo - I'm just.. a little jumpy." Kagome admitted, laughing nervously and shaking her head, cursing herself for being so easily frightened. She really needed to calm down. "I'm sorry,"  
  
"Don't worry about it. Hey, I'm glad you could make it tonight. I feel like I haven't seen you in years! At least not since you started this job," the blond commented, linking arms with Kagome and traveling across the street as the light changed, both college students shivering slightly in the cold winter air. The many neon lights and signs illuminating the streets blurred together above the couple to give the evening sky an orange tint. And even though it was a crisp, cloudless night, Kagome could spot not one star.  
  
"Yeah, I know. It's a real drag - but this job is really important to me now," Kagome admitted, shrugging helplessly.  
  
"It sure seems like it," Hojo replied, not an unkind smile on his face as he held open the restaurant door for the small girl, polite as always.  
  
The restaurant was bright and warm compared to the chilly air outside, decorated colorfully and giving off a sense of light-hearted fun Kagome realized she hadn't been able to experience in some time, what with all of the stress surrounding her case. Immediately she felt herself relax in its completely normal, non-demon related atmosphere. How long had it been since she'd been able to do anything ordinary with her life, or at least something that was exclusive for only mortals?  
  
'I shouldn't classify my friends as 'normal', just because they're human,' Kagome acknowledged as a tall female waitress directed she and Hojo towards a booth already occupied by Keiko and Kiki, the two pretty girls waving jovially at the couple from the back of the restaurant. 'They're all a far cry from your average human, after all.'  
  
"Kagome!" Keiko gushed, getting to her feet and throwing her arms around Kagome so quickly that the other girl had to grab onto the table to keep her balance. She laughed as Keiko continued to hug her around the neck and gush about how long it had been since they had been able to see each other outside of classes - and her guard dropped some more. She felt totally comfortable with these people; they were her best friends, and she had missed them these past two weeks she had been practically under siege by a variety of terrible demons. "Where has my best friend been? Oh - Girl, you look simply haggard!" Keiko continued, leaning back to stare into Kagome's face.  
  
"I do?" Kagome asked, slightly surprised as she sat down in-between Keiko and Kiki, Hojo sitting to the left of Kiki and quickly shedding his heavy jacket.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't say 'haggard'," Kiki said wryly as she hugged Kagome a bit more sedately, and smiled widely for her. "But you definitely look pale, and maybe over worked.... Have you lost weight?" she asked, concern seeping into her voice.  
  
"Um, I don't think so.." Kagome said lightly, pretending to be unconcerned and looking engrossed with her menu as she resolutely attempted to steer the conversation in another direction. "Hmm, Alaska Rolls! Those sound good,"  
  
"Oh, we already ordered for everyone... We know what you two like so we thought you wouldn't mind," Kiki said, glancing at Hojo as she spoke. "Is it okay?"  
  
"Totally fine," Kagome assured her with a smile, quickly placing her menu back down as Hojo nodded in agreement.  
  
"I'm just happy we're all together again. It's been so long since all four of us have gotten together like this. I haven't even seen Keiko in some time," Hojo admitted.  
  
"Welllll after my, um, slightly less than satisfactory grades last year, Daddy threatened to stop funding my college expenses, so I've actually been doing some studying lately," Keiko admitted with a helpless shrug, pulling on the collar of her purple turtle neck tee-shirt, silver tiffany's charm bracelet clinking gently as she did so.  
  
"I can vouch for her - as her roommate, I have witnessed Keiko actually taking some time to study lately. Why, just last week she even turned down a date to cram for her Ancient History final.." Kiki said with mock pride. Keiki rolled her eyes flipped Kiki the finger while Hojo and Kagome tactfully hid their grins.  
  
"And what about you Kiki? How's the rugby team going?" Kagome asked, turning the attention over to the tall, muscular brunette.  
  
"Well, I sprained my wrist a few days ago in a game against East Tekio - but it's healing really great and I'll be back to normal by the time the break is over, for sure," Kiki explained, pulling away the dark blue sweater sleeve covering her arm to reveal a pale, bandaged wrist.  
  
"Oh! How did you do that?" Kagome asked, inspecting the slightly purpled skin around the ace bandage carefully.  
  
"She got barreled over by a slightly, um, larger girl during the first half." Hojo explained carefully.  
  
"She was a fat cow who fell on me," Kiki reiterated flatly, flexing her arm delicately as she spoke.  
  
"You were at the game, Hojo?" Kagome questioned, cocking her head as a waitress swept over to the table with a large tray of sushi rolls expertly arranged on three different platters. Everyone moved their glasses and napkins aside as various plates of food were shoved in front of them.  
  
"Well, someone has to come to my games now that you're always busy! And God knows Keiko could never bear to sit through a rugby game..." Kiki sighed despairingly.  
  
"Damn straight," Keiko reaffirmed, while popping a crab roll deftly into her mouth. "But seriously - tell us about your job Kagome! You've been so damn elusive about it - how's it going? How's your boss? Are there any hot FBI agents you'd like to introduce us to?" Keiko girl questioned with a wicked gleam in her heavily makeuped eye.  
  
"Yeah, and have you figured out how much you're getting paid yet?" Kiki pressed in a more serious tone.  
  
"How long are your hours?" Hojo added.  
  
"Ah! Hold on! One at a time." Kagome said quickly, throwing her arms up as though to physically stop the barrage of questions her friends had thrown at her. "Well... For starters, my job is still pretty boring, I promise. I'm just doing the normal secretary thing, but my boss is really nice to me so that's not so bad," An image of old Kaede swam across her vision, and she continued to tick off all of the aspects of her job that she could without giving away anything important.  
  
"I'm getting paid 2,000 a week..." She continued.  
  
"Whoa! Go Kagome! That's a lot for a first time secretary," Kiki congratulated while slapping Kagome on the back, a large smile stretching across her face.  
  
"I could certainly do with some pocket cash like that," Keiko added dramatically, resting her cheek in her hand.  
  
"Well I'm working practically every day so I think it's only fair," Kagome pointed out, thinking of the long hours she spent at the office, writing up reports and training with Miroku.  
  
"That's true," Kiki acknowledged.  
  
"But what about the guys?" Keiko reminded Kagome, nudging the girl with her elbow suggestively. "I bet you're getting to know some of those muscular, federal agents real well, right?"  
  
"Um!" And now pictures of the handsome Inuyasha inexorably came to mind, but Kagome furiously tried to push them down, instead attempting to imagine the silver haired hanyou embracing a coldly beautiful Kikyo in an effort to keep herself from giving into temptation again. Kikyo was dressed in her miko robes like in the picture Kaede had shown her, and he was smiling down on her lovingly. However, all this served to do was make Kagome feel cold and thoroughly depressed inside, so she shook her head once and rid her mind of ALL pictures, instead. "No... it's against office policies to become involved with other agen- er, co-workers." She said firmly.  
  
"You're so dull Kagome," Keiki said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, while, off to the side, Kagome realized that Hojo looked a bit relieved. She pretended not to notice and focused on her own shrimp roll intently, poking at it dully with wooden chopsticks.  
  
For the rest of the meal the friends all spoke of this and that companionably, laughing and having a generally good time, making Kagome wistful for the days when she used to be able to do this sort of thing at least twice a week and think nothing of it. She hadn't realized just out privileged she had been back then...  
  
Kagome had become deeply engrossed in a particularly juicy conversation with Keiko about an old friend from high school who was apparently leading a far more thrilling sex-life than Kagome, or indeed anyone she had ever heard of before, involving barnyard animals and a Russian male model - when the painfully familiar feel of her miko senses giving off their best warning signals rang sharply through her head.  
  
"What - " she gasped softly, turning away from Keiko in mid-sentence to stare at the entrance of the restaurant. "Oh my God..."  
  
And there, at the door, being politely greeted by the hostess, and slipping their heavy fur jacket off their shoulders smoothly, was a demon. In plain sight. At a sushi restaurant. A mere few yards away from her best friends.  
  
"Kagome? What is it?" Keiko asked worriedly, patting Kagome on the shoulder as the thin girl continued to stare, wide eyed, at the female demon. She was a fairly attractive demon, Kagome supposed, with a lithe, curvy figure and a pretty face. Her dark hair was held back in a short ponytail by ivory clips, and straight bangs fell low around her darkly painted, crimson red eyes Kagome was sure no one could miss. Her skin was an alabaster white, her lips full and sensuous. Typical demon markings slashed down her face, and she appraised the restaurant as though she knew she were the center of attention as she was led to a table not that far off from Kagome's.  
  
Kagome had to clench her fists while a burst of cold, mean energy blasted past her as the demon woman strutted by her table in an explosion of expensive silks and glittering jewelry.  
  
"I-I think - " Kagome started nervously, turning back to Keiko and finding herself completely at a loss for words. What could she say? What should she do? What she wanted to do was get her friends as far away from this highly powerful and dangerous demon as quickly as possible - but she didn't think she could do this without drawing attention to herself and thus, them. This had to be approached carefully.. Kagome swallowed the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm her as she thought of one of her friends being murdered by a demon because of her involvement with Naraku, and tried to focus of Keiko. However, once she did this, it occurred to Kagome that Keiko was hardly paying any attention to her anymore.. "Keiko?" Kagome snapped, following the girl's distracted stare, and stifling a groan as she realized Keiko's gaze was locked directly on the demon as she was seated at a table off to the side.  
  
'Wait.... seated at a table?' Kagome repeated in her head, frowning lightly. 'Why are they letting this demon just take a seat like any normal customer? Don't they notice her red eyes, and demon markings? Maybe they think it's a costume - I'm sure they can't feel her chi like I can... But still..'  
  
"So pretty..." Keiko sighed adoringly, her eyes glittering with admiration as she continued to stare at the demon.  
  
"'Pretty'?" Kagome repeated incredulously. "What are you talking about? You think that, that ... Woman, is pretty?"  
  
"Well of course - but that's not what I'm talking about; it's that dress! It's simply fabulous! It looks like real silk too, and it fits her so well.... isn't that what you were looking at?" Keiko asked with honest curiosity, tipping her head at her friend and raising an inquisitive eyebrow.  
  
"Well, I - " she stuttered stupidly, glancing around Keiko to find that Kiki and Hojo were holding an animated conversation and didn't even seem to notice the presence of the demon in the room. "I mean, it's a nice dress, but come ON," Kagome laughed, shaking her head. Keiko couldn't be THAT ditzy, could she? She wouldn't overlook the woman's demonic appearance in favor of her expensive, red silk Chinese dress..  
  
"I HAVE to go ask her where she got it!" Keiko added excitedly, hopping up from her seat with an eager expression on her face, and heading towards the demon's table.  
  
"What? No!" Kagome all but shouted, grabbing Keiko by the wrist and hauling her backwards, finally grabbing the attention of a mildly startled Kiki and Hojo. "What are you thinking?" she asked sharply, thoroughly confused.  
  
"God Kagome, what's wrong with you? It's not as though it's rude or anything. I just want to ask her where she bought her dress.. people do stuff like this all the time," Keiko reasoned with Kagome as though she were talking to a very young child, and this made Kagome all the more frustrated.  
  
"But - but - she's just! It's just!" she sputtered indignantly, as the demon picked up her own menu and began skimming through it casually, a few tables down.  
  
"Just let her go Kag. It's NOT that big a deal," Kiki said soothingly, patting Kagome on the back as Keiko turned on her heal to go speak with the demon. "Keiko won't be impolite or anything,"  
  
"That's not what I'm worried about," Kagome sighed with frustration, wondering if everyone had gone totally insane that night - or if it was just her. She feared that the correct answer would be the latter reason, but rose from her chair nonetheless to watch Keiko converse with the demon woman, who was still going unnoticed by the majority of the restaurant occupants, excluding a few interested looking men.  
  
Keiko was giving off her biggest, cheesiest smile as she asked the demon where she had purchased her simply LOVELY dress, nearly giving Kagome a heart attack as she went so far as to place a hand on the demon's shoulder when the youkai lady appeared totally comfortable with the question.  
  
Straining her ears, Kagome vaguely heard the woman reply with something like 'Oh, downtown at the Versace store on 12th...' Making Keiko's eyes widen with either recognition as she remembered where the store was, or shock as she realized just how expensive the dress must have been.  
  
"I see, well, it's a VERY beautiful dress. And you wear it so well! Thank you, goodbye.." Kagome followed Keiko's movements all the way back to the table with cautious brown eyes, falling back into her chair when she realized that Keiko had made it back to the table totally unscathed.  
  
'Ohmigod...' Kagome sighed, placing her head in her hands as Keiko bounced back into her seat merrily. 'I didn't realize how worried I would be for my friends... I didn't realize how badly the idea of one of them being attacked by a youkai bothers me,'  
  
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it Kagome?" Keiko asked with a knowing grin, observing her obviously overworked friend from the corner of her eye as she sipped her tea.  
  
Kagome stared back at Keiko flatly, listening to the sound of her own heart racing in her chest, her gaze traveling inescapably over Keiko's shoulder and back to the demon's table. There, the demon woman seemed to have finally taken notice of the young and confused miko. She stared Kagome down with dramatic blood red eyes that twinkled with undertones of mischievousness, and swiftly snapped open a delicate, yet sharp looking fan with a flick of her wrist, smiling from behind it and giving Kagome a rather suggestive wink.  
  
*  
  
'I guess I should just get used to the idea that demons really do live like normal people in Tokyo,' Kagome admitted to herself on the way home that chilly winter night. 'And I also should accept the fact that I'm going to be the only one who can see them for what they really are.. they're not all bad guys. I know that from working at the agency, so I shouldn't get freaked when one wants to eat out for sushi,' Her gaze flitted up to the half moon glowing dully in the city sky, and she quickened her pace subtly as she realized how late it had gotten without her realizing it. 'Still, there was something about that demon.. something very OFF about her..'  
  
After sushi, Keiko and Kiki had suggested the group check out the new club a little ways off from campus. Hojo had readily agreed to go with the girls, but Kagome had politely refused, explaining that she had work tomorrow morning, unlike some privileged people, and she didn't want to get home too late that night. Nor did she want to get too drunk, either. Kagome wasn't sure just how Inuyasha would handle it if he caught her stumbling into the apartment at three AM, terrifically plastered and smelling like a million and one disgusting things to his sensitive hanyou nose.  
  
The girls had been disappointed, but bid her farewell with hugs and kisses and promises to meet up again soon, because it was just too unfair how the FBI got to keep Kagome all to themselves while they had to spend practically all winter vacation without her. There had even been an essentially un-awkward goodbye embrace with Hojo, probably the first since their breakup the summer of senior year. And then they all piled into a taxi and sped off in the other direction, while Kagome was left to wander home by herself in the dark, as it encroached upon eleven PM in the city.  
  
'Maybe it's better that I don't get to see them that much,' Kagome added as she placed her hands over her freezing ears while a particularly strong gush of cold wind blew bye. 'The less Naraku knows about my friends, the better. I don't want him to use my friends or family against me, and it certainly seems like he would have no reservations about stooping that low.'  
  
It was only three more blocks to the apartment, but it felt like twenty as Kagome's thin legs, covered only by black tights, began to shiver uncontrollably. The trees swayed noisily in the wind, and an eerie whistling sound rang through the allies and buildings Kagome passed by, giving her the creeps as she wished to be back in her warm and cozy apartment with Shippou and Buyo and Inuyasha already.  
  
'Oh no,' the pretty girl thought despondently as, for the second time that night, her mystic senses began to buzz their quiet warning, making all the hairs on Kagome's back stand on end, and her eyes dart around in a panicked fashion. 'Please tell me there are no demons lurking in the shadows now... Not now, not when Inuyasha isn't here..' It was true, Kagome knew she could probably call the strong agent to her side with her mind and magic if push came to shove, as she had done with Yura, but she wasn't confident enough with her abilities to feel secure with this knowledge, so the fear only continued to roll off her in powerful waves as the definite feel of some sort of demon lurked closer.  
  
'Go away go away go away..' the mantra rang loudly through her brain as Kagome sped up her pace significantly, jogging down the sidewalk in a desperate three block dash for her apartment, thinking if she could just get in the building she'd be safe. Her breath came out in painful, ragged pants as the cold took a toll on her lungs, and the feeling of a powerful presence in her mind got stronger and stronger.  
  
'They're getting closer! Are they behind me?' She wondered, risking a glance over her shoulder. At first it seemed as though there was nothing but murky shadows created by the looming apartment buildings, crisscrossing over the sidewalks behind her. But then she spotted a flicker of glowing red in the distance, coupled by the distinct sound of someone chuckling maliciously in her head. It sent powerful shivers down her spine and almost made her trip over her own feet as she resisted the urge to squeak with fright and surprise. 'Oh God!'  
  
"OOMPH!" Kagome gasped/cried, smashing into something very solid as it rounded the corner quickly. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt herself finally loose her balance and stumble backwards from the force of the collision. Her nose was numb and she smelled something salty in the air - had she broken the delicate cartilage? She hadn't realized she'd been running that fast..  
  
"Dammit!" a familiar voice cried out in alarm, catching her before her head could snap back on the unforgiving pavement, and lifting her up with their muscular arms wrapped tightly around her small form in an almost protective gesture. "Kagome? Are you all right?"  
  
"I - Inuyasha!" she cried, embarrassing herself with how utterly desperate and relieved she sounded. But there was no denying the fact that she felt truly protected and comforted by the sight of the tall, white haired hanyou looking down at her with concerned golden eyes. In fact, it was down right inspiring. "I'm so glad you're here!" she added animatedly.  
  
"Well, I was just about to check up on you, considering how late it's gotten... I was worried something had happened when you didn't come home ..." He spoke warily, as though worried she would snap at him for coming to see her after she had explicitly told him to go no where near the restaurant or her friends. But Kagome only shook her head silently, bumping her forehead against Inuyasha's hard chest as though chiding herself for being so foolish. How could she have told Inuyasha to stay away? She needed him....  
  
"Thank you, thank you." She breathed, noticing distantly that the feeling of the foreign demon was suspiciously gone from her mind. Now it was just she and Inuyasha, as far as she could tell.  
  
"Hey," Inuyasha said, his gaze inquisitive as he hooked a finger under Kagome's chin and moved her face upwards so he could stare down at it. "Are you really okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."  
  
"Or something," Kagome agreed, shooting him a quirky little grin and moving away from his leather jacket clad form, in favor of simply hooking arms with him. She felt no need to tell him about her almost-demon encounter of a few minutes ago. The threat was gone anyway, and she had a feeling the whole episode could have been a product of her overactive imagination, stress, and simple expectancy since it was true that she had been jumped by a youkai nearly every time she had been left alone, for nearly the past week. "Come on, let's go home. I need to rest up for that mission tomorrow, right?"  
  
Inuyasha stared down at her curiously for another beat, his head cocked cutely to the side, and his ears flicking around madly. But then he simply frowned and snorted indifferently, making a gesture that said simply 'Oh, I give up!' but turning and leading the way back the apartment nonetheless. "Yeah, whatever."  
  
*  
  
Early the next morning, a plain looking, tan van came to a halt outside the gate of an impressively sized, all marble and glass mansion. The address read 401 in delicate gold letters, and the large manor was located in one of the ritzier and extremely reclusive areas of Tokyo. Beyond the gate one could see a sun filled stone courtyard, with many expensive statues decorating the vicinity - scattered artistically about the gardens and cobblestone roads. Even though winter had taken it's toll on the greenery, a collection of bare Sakura Blossom trees spoke of hidden beauty when the season was right, lining the path to the main entrance of the house.  
  
An impressed Kagome sucked in a breath of awe and continued to stare at the compound, wide eyed, while at the same time a slightly less than fazed Inuyasha lazily rolled down his tinted window and pressed a button on the intercom planted to the side of the large gate, awaiting permission to be let in to the youkai mansion. He fidgeted with the tiny communicator piece in his ear while he waited for someone to pick up, remembering to act on his best behavior, as there were probably a few dozen people back at the agency listening in on everything he said.  
  
"Hello, welcome to the Wolf Clan Compound - to whom am I speaking?" a crackly voice finally replied. Inuyasha leaned over and answered casually, in a bit of a common drawl unlike his usual clipped speech:  
  
"We're the new hired help - we were told to be here at eight.?"  
  
"Oh, yes. Come right in then," Without further ado the gates began to whine and squeak as they were electronically opened, leaving just enough space for the van to fit through as it hesitantly putted across the pristine looking courtyard.  
  
"This place is so big.." Kagome pointed out a bit anxiously, her hands fisting her plain brown, knee length skirt unconsciously as she spoke.  
  
"You knew how big it was - heck, we just looked over the blueprints for the whole damn house this morning," Inuyasha replied shortly, plainly not interested in the rookie agent's petty worries.  
  
"Yeah, but it's different seeing it for real," Kagome explained softly, as though afraid of being overheard, while shrugging and setting about un-creasing the skirt she had just efficiently wrinkled. "Besides, I'm sure you've done stuff like this a lot in the past. This is my first official mission ever!" she reminded her partner tartly after a moment.  
  
"Hm," Inuyasha replied indifferently, pulling his brown cap further down on his head so his face was brought into shadow, his eyes intense as he watched a butler come out of the large front doors and wait for he and Kagome to pull up expectantly. "Well, just don't blow it. Remember, you're a common, youkai maid.... well, you're a human maid, who is part of the demon circle of Tokyo.... right?"  
  
"Right," Kagome replied in a strong voice, nodding her head straightening her posture confidently - before quickly wincing and shrinking back down. "Ouch!" she muttered irritably.  
  
"What is it?" Inuyasha asked softly as he halted the bulky van, the back of which was filled to the brim with various anti-youkai weapons and communication devices, and certainly not cleaning supplies, as almost everyone at the compound assumed they would be. Only a select few at this mansion knew who Kagome and Inuyasha really were, and why they had come to the Prince of the Wolf Youkai's home that morning. And the fewer people who knew, the better.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing - I'm just not used to having a gun under here," Kagome replied quickly, waving a casual hand at Inuyasha as she rubbed her thigh carefully. "Actually, I'm not used to having a gun anywhere."  
  
After arriving at the agency far earlier than was healthy, Inuyasha and Kagome had been supplied with practically a full-blown arsenal of weapons, almost all of which Kagome hadn't the slightest idea of how to use. She had never used a gun in her life, and most of these anti-demon rifles and shotguns looked a bit daunting.  
  
'Normal guns don't really have much of an affect of demons,' an older demon youkai agent had explained the mystified Kagome, earlier that day. 'So we have special weapons for our agents, most of which have been spelled by mikos and monks, and all of which are loaded with our very own silver bullets. Made special for the maximum amount of damage on a youkai,'  
  
Kagome had accepted the modestly sized semi-automatic handgun offered to her, after receiving a brief rundown of just what how to use it, but left the scene feeling a bit awkward. She didn't like the idea of shooting anyone with a gun, be they demon or no, and had wished Kaede or Miroku had been there to guide her through the process instead of some random field agent. Apparently, however, Detective Kaede and special agent Miroku were both occupied with another mission of sorts that morning, and couldn't be bothered to teach Kagome the basics of essentially non-magical demon extermination.  
  
Later, Kagome had asked why Inuyasha hadn't received a gun as well, and felt strangely satisfied to hear the hanyou explain that he didn't like to use any sort of firearm. He believed his claws had a much more effective result when unleashed, and also mentioned that he believed guns were almost like cheating when it came to battling other youkai.  
  
"Well, now I really want to keep this one," Kagome had sighed, her dark mood not lightened by Inuyasha's callous observation, as she hesitantly tapped the holster strapped to her thigh. Inuyasha had only shrugged at her in response, his tone carefully impartial when he replied.  
  
"It's different for you. You're so much more physically weak than anyone we'll be up against; I wouldn't be against letting you use one... It might make me feel more comfortable with you being out there in the middle of things, when you're so green with your powers. It's just different for me because I'm so much stronger," he had ended with, effectively canceling out any sweet sentiments the statement might have held.  
  
Currently, both Inuyasha and Kagome were dressed in rather ugly, matching brown getups of that of a cleaning lady and a maintenance man, their identities as Demon FBI agents totally secret to the staff of the house. The demons working in the Wolf Prince's home were expecting some extra help that day as they prepared for an upcoming ball, and only the prince himself, and a few of his personal guards and close family members, knew Kagome and Inuyasha as the special agents they really were.  
  
Kagome remembered to keep this all in mind as she hopped out of the van, Inuyasha leaving the keys in the ignition as he spotted a younger looking demon come to stand next to the butler, apparently the valet waiting to park the bulky vehicle in a nearby lot. The back of the van was specially sealed off by various wards and layers of steal, so the hanyou had no fear of the kid discovering the bounty of weapons he and Kagome had hidden in the back in case of an emergency.  
  
The two attractive agents walked up to the butler and bowed respectfully, Inuyasha coming up first and regarding the stuffy looking wolf demon servant lazily.  
  
"So, whater y'all gonna have us do first?" he asked in a low pitched, country brogue, forcing Kagome to cough violently into her hand as an inexorable bout of giggles bubbled in her throat. She could almost see Inuyasha mentally roll his eyes at her lack of restraint.  
  
Oh boy....  
  
*  
  
"Please, wait in here while I fetch the Master.... he asked to see you personally, though I have no idea why. He usually doesn't trouble himself with personally inspecting YOUR type of hired help," The butler, Mr. Tsuyame he had asked the couple call him, mentioned haughtily as he turned on his heal and marched out of the finely crafted study Kagome and Inuyasha had been led into.  
  
As it turned out, Mr. Tsuyame, a thin and willowy looking demon with small, beady orange eyes, was a total prick. But Kagome and Inuyasha had pretended not to care as they regarded the interior of the Wolf Mansion appraisingly, trying to take in everything they could, and memorize all of the various staircases and halls - all while not looking too obvious. Kagome found it was best to pretend she was awestruck by the house in order to get a good look around - mostly because she was, in fact, awestruck by the impressive structure.  
  
"Okay," Kagome replied, nodding her head. But the butler was already out the door, his tailcoats billowing importantly behind him.  
  
"Man, what's he got stuck up his butt?" Inuyasha snorted disdainfully once he was sure he and Kagome were alone. Kagome sighed at her partner - she personally had been determined to act a bit more mature on this assignment, now that she knew there were agents listening in on their actions thanks to the essentially invisible microphone in her ear. She knew Inuyasha was aware of this fact as well, as he had previously mentioned that it made him uncomfortable, he just seemed to have a harder time acting polite and serious in the house of their current potential-victim than she did.  
  
The study was lavishly furnished, and, like the rest of the impressive mansion, looked extremely old. However, it wasn't the sort of old that Kagome was used to - like the deteriorating, dangerously old parts of her childhood home, the Higurashi Shrine. That temple had been around since the Feudal Era, and when living in it Kagome had often times felt as though the whole structure might fall down around her ears if she walked too hard through some of the main shrines.  
  
No, this mansion was not THAT sort of old. It was a well-maintained, beautiful and mysterious looking old, that's wooden chests and tables were dark and glossy, and that's ceilings still retained their original intricate moldings, curving into beautiful plaster flowers. The marble floors looked as though no one had ever scratched them, despite having been around for many, many decades, and the whole place smelled musky... Yet it was an expensive sort of musk Kagome's temple had never been able to attain.  
  
Kagome was so lost in her thoughts, some of them nostalgic for home and the family she hadn't communicated with in nearly a week, it greatly startled her when the agency's potential victim burst into the room with hardly any warning, briskly approaching she and Inuyasha with not so much as an introduction.  
  
"Are you two weaklings supposed to be my bodyguards?" Prince Kouga of the renowned demon Wolf Clan demanded sharply, his large fangs jutting out over his lip as he gave both Kagome and Inuyasha the once over, the expression on his face clearly stating that what he saw was less than satisfactory. Kagome's mouth opened as she gazed at the demon, but no sound came out, and all that could be heard from Inuyasha was a warning growl in the back of his throat.  
  
Kouga's very presence seemed to scream speed. Every move he made, right down to the way his pale blue eyes seemed to zip around at the slightest suggestion of movement from anything in the room, was ridiculously fast. The two other wolf demons behind him, presumably close confidents of the prince who were also in on Kagome and Inuyasha's real identities, appeared to move painstakingly slow compared to their speedy leader, even though they were of the same breed.  
  
He also happened to be notably handsome. Kouga had deeply tanned skin and an incredibly muscular body, which was clearly defined through his black, collared t-shirt. His thick brown hair was held out of his face in a ponytail, and his messy chocolate bangs did nothing to hide his handsome and shadowed features. Even the unnaturally pointed ears, large fangs and slitted pupils did little to take away from his over all attractiveness. Besides, those things seemed to work for Inuyasha, who was quite aesthetically pleasing to Kagome..  
  
"One lousy hanyou and a mortal girl - THAT'S the best the famous demon FBI can offer? And after I clearly stated that I wanted no part in this whole 'Potential Victim Protection Program', business.. it's truly an insult." Kouga barked in his scratchy, deep voice.  
  
"Uhhh...." Kagome responded dumbly, while Inuyasha began to fume dangerously next to her. Who did this guy think he was?  
  
"Now listen here pal - " Inuyasha began in a foreboding tone, before being swiftly cut off by one of the two wolf demon attendants standing stiffly behind Kouga.  
  
"N-Now Master Kouga, you know that this is all for your benefit! Your family insisted you let the FBI take over once it was decided that you were a potential victim for Naraku... So why don't you just let them do - "  
  
"Yes, yes, I know all that - but look at them! They're pathetic! A half- breed a silly little girl cannot possibly be fit to withstand the forces of Naraku, if he DID happen to target me." Kouga reasoned with the buff, white haired wolf demon next to him. The attendant traded glances with his partner, before beginning to speak again so that Inuyasha wouldn't have a chance to jump in once more and say something terribly rude to Kouga.  
  
"But Sir - that hanyou is Inuyasha - son of the deceased Lord Inu! And his elder brother is the famed demon Sesshomaru!" the other wolf demon explained, as though this would placate their leader's anger.  
  
"Yes, and that girl is Kagome Higurashi - a powerful miko! We had the FBI give us the background of the two agents they were sending over before they came - we would never let them send just anybody to guard the mansion." His companion added with a serious expression on his face.  
  
Kouga's eyes narrowed slightly, but he seemed to accept his attendant's answers. He slowly turned around and addressed the agents once again, Inuyasha red in the face with anger, but miraculously holding his tongue at thought of the people back at the agency listening in on everything he said. For her part, Kagome was staring intently at the Oriental rug beneath her feet, unsure of what to do. Kouga sure seemed to be an insulting and rude person, and she wondered what was so pure about his soul that Naraku would consider killing him to fuel the shikon no tama.  
  
"So, you're Sesshomaru's younger brother, are you?" Kouga asked, addressing Inuyasha first. He stood in front of the hanyou with his arms, which were bulging with muscles, folded. Inuyasha seemed pleased to see that he was about two inches taller than the wolf demon.  
  
"Yeah, what of it?" Inuyasha responded in an equally as hostile tone. This wolf demon had obviously already blown it with the hanyou, and Inuyasha didn't seem to be willing to easily forgive the wolf prince for his previous words.  
  
"I met the bloke once or twice. Thought he was a real ass. Just thought you should know," Kouga commented lightly.  
  
"Yeah? Well that makes two of us," Inuyasha responded simply, shrugging his shoulders. Kouga looked briefly disappointed that he hadn't provoked more of a reaction in Inuyasha with his last comment, but he quickly recovered from the feeling as his pale gaze came to rest upon Kagome.  
  
Kagome gulped as Kouga's eyes took on a mischievous tone. It was clear to the girl that this demon just wanted to stir up trouble with she and Inuyasha because he was spiteful over the fact that he had been given 'babysitters' to defend him against the murderer Naraku, (What was it with guys and their intolerable pride?) and so she became wary as Kouga began to grin widely at her, moving fully away from Inuyasha and quickly coming to stand close to her smaller form.  
  
"And you're the miko, hm? The agency was right; you are powerful. I can feel it now that I get a proper look at you. I also can't help but notice that you're.. quite good-looking, for a human girl," he said smoothly, flashing Kagome a heart melting smile.  
  
"Wellll..." she said, laughing uneasily as she felt Inuyasha grow agitated next to her, obviously not pleased that she was being sweet-talked while on the job. Quickly, she thought up something to say that would keep Inuyasha's temper at bay. "Well, actually, I've just begun training my miko powers recently, so they're not as refined as they should be, presently,"  
  
Kouga raised a questioning eyebrow at this, and Inuyasha quickly jumped into the conversation.  
  
"You don't have to worry. She has enough surplus of miko power in her to give Naraku a nasty shock," Inuyasha quickly assured Kouga, making Kagome blush at the unexpected praise. "The FBI knows what they're doing.. Mr. Kouga," Inuyasha said 'Mr.' as though it hurt him physically to address Kouga with an honorific. "Just let us take it from here, please,"  
  
Kouga stared blankly at Inuyasha for a moment, before quickly transferring his attention back over to Kagome, as though the hanyou had never spoken in the first place.  
  
"Hmmm.. Beautiful AND powerful, are you? That seems like a pretty impressive combination, Ms. Kagome," Kouga said in a smooth tone. Kagome could only blink with surprise, completely overcome with all of the compliments she was unexpectedly receiving.  
  
"She's not THAT pretty," Inuyasha mumbled, annoyed as he watched Kouga take Kagome's pale hand in his own larger one.  
  
"Gee, thanks," Kagome deadpanned at the silver haired demon.  
  
"Obviously this puppy doesn't know how to treat his partner right. What say you be my personal bodyguard for the day, Kagome? Inuyasha can patrol the grounds, but I'd feel much better if I knew I had a full fledged miko by my side," the prince said enticingly.  
  
"I'm not so sure," Kagome replied hesitantly. That hadn't been part of the plan they had made back at the agency. She had Inuyasha were supposed to patrol the grounds, disguised as servants, and search for any signs of Naraku's handiwork around the compound. Like errant spider heads in the dining room, etc.  
  
"Hey, why don't you let US do the planning here, MR. Kouga!" Inuyasha barked, disliking the situation more and more. Why did he feel so ANGRY when he watched Kouga link hands with a slightly doubtful looking Kagome? Why did he feel the need to attack something when that stuck up wolf smiled down at her playfully?  
  
"This is my home, Agent Inuyasha. I won't let someone like you push me around here. I think this situation is fine - don't you, boys?" Kouga asked his two official looking attendants, who had fallen silent ever since Kouga had taken a distinct interest in the pretty raven haired FBI agent.  
  
"Yes Master Kouga, it's very good. We can show Mr. Inuyasha around the mansion, and Ms. Kagome keep you from harm..." One of the wolves said, nodding his head affirmatively.  
  
"Wonderful! Then it's all settled," Kouga said with a sense of finality to his tone, pulling Kagome closer to him by their linked arms, and briskly leading her towards the door before she had a chance to say anything about the matter. "Please Inuyasha, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask one of the boys."  
  
"H-Hey, wait!" Inuyasha called after the tan demon, looking harassed as he watched Kagome give him an apologetic glance before being whisked out the door, practically stumbling over her own feet because of the fast pace at which Kouga was traveling. "Kagome!"  
  
But then Kagome was jogging down a series of marble halls with golden chandeliers dangling from the ceiling, Kouga keeping a firm, warm hold on her arm, and smiling broadly. She felt confused and off center as she tried to take in all of the foreign things around her, barely remembering she was now supposed to be acting the part of a humble maid since she was out of the study. She distantly realized Kouga was saying something to her, and quickly tried to focus on the sound of his voice, rather than the ringing in her head.  
  
"I'm quite happy the FBI sent me someone as attractive and talented as you to be my guard. I've never met an actual miko before, though I've heard great legends about them." Kouga was saying in a friendly tone, making Kagome blush. He threw so many compliments at her without batting a lash, and this habit of his was making her quite flustered. Inuyasha was never like this. "At first I was completely adamant about not having the FBI in my home, since the Wolf Clan is obviously more than capable of taking care of itself... But now I don't mind it so much," Kouga finished with a roguish wink down at Kagome.  
  
"That's... nice," Kagome decided to say, her smile big and fake. "But, uh, where are we?" she continued in a more hesitant tone, as Kouga threw open a pair of large doors to what looked like a well furnished common room of sorts. In this new room, there was a wall-to-wall maroon carpet, rich wooden paneling, a bulky looking fire place, and a collection of comfy looking, dark velvet couches pushed against various walls.  
  
"This is my room.. well, one of them." The wolf prince reflected, leading Kagome over to a couch and proceeding to sit down himself, cushioning his head with his arms and smiling up at Kagome roguishly. Kagome bit her lip and clasped her hands together behind her back, not taking a seat next to Kouga, as he obviously had expected her to. "My training hall is the next room down, and my bedroom is behind that door right over there.." He pointed at a door in the right hand corner of the common room. "If you're interested."  
  
"Uh, no, that's okay, actually..." Kagome responded quickly, waving her hands in front of herself. "Actually, you know, I'm supposed to be acting the part of a maid right now, and I don't think anyone's going to believe I'm actually hired help if you keep treating me like a - a special guest or something," The fact that she was supposed to be a maid drew Kagome's attention back down to her shapeless brown dress. Kouga thought she looked attractive - when she was wearing THIS potato sack?  
  
Kouga shrugged, looking indifferent, the expression on his face very similar to the one Inuyasha wore when he wanted to make it clear he didn't really care what Kagome thought.  
  
"It doesn't matter. Honestly, I look at this whole protection thing as a bit of a joke. I mean, what are the chances of Naraku really coming after me, anyway? He's just some random psycho - I'm not worried about him. Besides, I'm pretty sure I could take him on even if he did feel like trying to attack me or my clan" he explained breezily. Kagome's eyes widened and she stared at Kouga incredulously.  
  
"What are you talking about? Naraku has killed many, many demons in just the past few months, and he would definitely be someone to worry about if there is even the smallest possibility that he would come after you or your loved ones," she insisted, having first hand knowledge of just how threatening Naraku truly was. Kouga raised an eyebrow at the pretty priestess, his eyes abruptly taking on a more serious tone.  
  
"What do you mean he's killed lots of demons in the past few months? I've hardly heard anything about it.. it hasn't been in the demon papers very much, and they'd talk about it if they knew he was on a rampage, or something." Kouga said speculatively.  
  
Kagome suddenly felt as though she had done something very unintelligent, as she distantly remembered Kaede mentioning something about how they were attempting to keep the Naraku case under wraps from the public, and how it could cause total panic if word about Naraku's killing spree got out to the demon population, or even the human population. She knew that the demon people were aware that Naraku was at large, however they didn't realize just how dangerous he was, nor how serious his case was becoming. Sighing deeply, Kagome tried to think of a way to get herself out of this situation.  
  
"Well.. maybe I was exaggerating a bit," she offered lightly.  
  
"No, you weren't. I can tell." Kouga corrected her quickly.  
  
"What? How do you know that?" Kagome questioned, folding her arms obstinately. "I was just trying to scare you so you'd take this operation more seriously, that's all!" she insisted fiercely.  
  
"No, you WEREN'T." Kouga responded, all out frowning now. "I'm a demon, remember, my heightened senses can tell me when you're telling the truth or not. Why didn't the agency inform me of Naraku's record before I got involved in all this? If he really has been killing lots of people lately, my clan should know about it! The FBI only told me he had killed one or two demons previously, and that he was reported to be in the area...."  
  
"I'm telling you - you're wrong! I was just kidding!" Kagome continued to argue, undaunted.  
  
"Dammit woman, stop lying to me!" Kouga growled, getting to his feet, and suddenly acting none-to-friendly with Kagome. Apparently, Kouga was an entirely different demon when it concerned the protection of his clan.  
  
"I'm NOT!"  
  
"Yes, you are!"  
  
"No, I'm definitely not!"  
  
"It's no use telling me that, I know for a fact you weren't lying you crazy miko bitch!"  
  
At this, Kagome gasped sharply and, without stopping to think about the consequences of her actions, she zipped forward and slapped Kouga across the face. Kouga seemed so unprepared for the shy looking mortal to do something like that, he didn't even block her attack.  
  
It wasn't that hard of a slap, and certainly nothing that would cause damage to the Wolf Clan Prince himself... But it did leave Kouga looking rather shocked as he held his cheek with one hand, his blue eyes wide with blatant surprise.  
  
"OhmiGod!" Kagome squeaked, bringing a hand to her mouth, horrified. "I didn't mean it! I'm so sorry! Are you all right?" She approached Kouga once more, gently taking his hand away from his cheek so she could inspect him carefully, terribly afraid her slap might leave a bruise on his face. However, she seemed to have left much less of a mark than she had first assumed, and Kouga's cheek was simply a bit pinkish, but otherwise in fine condition. Kagome bit her lip and looked up at him, wondering if he was going to send her back to the agency now, and request another agent for the mission. Inuyasha would be so mad at her... And Kaede and Miroku would be disappointed!  
  
However, to Kagome's utter surprise, when she looked back up at Kouga - he was smiling at her once more.  
  
"Beautiful, powerful, AND spunky, hu? Agent Kagome Higurashi - you are the perfect woman."  
  
Kagome distantly felt her jaw hit the floor as she stared up at Kouga flatly. What kind of a demon was this? Was he totally insane? She had just bitch-slapped him across the face, and he was already back to flirting with her!  
  
"Come on, I'll show you my bedroom now - I have a feeling you'll really like it," Kouga said in a firm tone, leading her towards the back of the room while Kagome was still in a daze, nearly dizzy with relief over the fact that he hadn't been angry with her, but terribly confused about it nonetheless.  
  
"Wait, hold on a -" Kagome had just begun to protest, when the sound of something whooshing quickly through the air caught her attention, and an odd feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. Her powers began to tingle forebodingly.  
  
Kagome spun around to look at one of the floor length windows lining the wall, just in time to see a female demon in an expensive dress crash noisily through the glass while perched gracefully on a giant.. feather.  
  
*  
  
Author's notes:  
  
Three guesses as to who THAT is! Yep. It's Kikyo! Haha.. just kidding. Anyway, sorry again for taking two months to update, I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner, but don't count on it. Next chapter - The Demon Bounty Hunters. Which means we actually get to meet Sango, for real.  
  
Anyway, there are some people I would like to thank now... Let's see:  
  
Lonemoon23: Haha.. well, I kind of did take a long time, but it's all good!  
  
ArtemisMoon: You're right, Inuyasha WAS due for a bout of jealousy. But that's what makes him great, right? Thank you sooo much for the tip about the dots, I totally didn't know about it, and it had really been bothering me!  
  
Silver Magiccraft: Thanks for noticing the long chapters, lol. I really do try to make them pretty long, because I hate it when authors spit out little, three page nothing chapters. (This one was 23 pages or something - but it doesn't really count because of how long I took with updating! Oh well..)  
  
Nonsequitur: Thank you for defending me about Kagome's reaction with the spider heads! I hadn't even considered your point of view when I wrote that chapter, I was only really thinking about how gross it would be to have a spider sitting on you, but you're totally right. I hope you can always say that Inuyasha and Kagome are acting in character for my fic, and thanks for reviewing! - Oh, and for your later review, I'm not leaving this story dead in the water, I promise! I'm just having trouble updating!  
  
The Random Queen: More? Yes. Soon? Um, I tried.  
  
Diamondgirl: Ha, I guess I took your advice pretty well. I took a breath of fresh air for two consecutive months! And yes, I WOULD like a laptop.  
  
Gueshoo: I'll try and be faster!  
  
Rambling Coffee Addict: You were right - it was Kouga! And although I'm afraid Kouga wasn't totally in character (I always have a hard time portraying Kouga correctly - don't really know why.) I'm glad you're happy about it. I'm sorry about the period problem - they were all supposed to be '.', but my computer doesn't let it show up like that on ff.net. I think I fixed it for this chapter, thanks to ArtemisMoon, but if I didn't. sorry! I'll try to work it out next time. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Atlas-86: I'm sorry I didn't talk about Sango and Miroku at ALL this chapter - but you'll find out how they know each other next chapter, I promise.  
  
Sylaera: Whoa! Thanks for the super long review.... Those are always my favorites. You're right, I hate how some people make Miroku out to be just some hormone driven freak of nature, too. And I promise I'll try to make it so that Kagome and Inuyasha profess their love for one another after at least TWO weeks. Sorry to interrupt your Counter-Striking... Thanks for reviewing!  
  
A friend: You're right! - and when did I put u instead of you? Yikes!  
  
Saro: Wow! My very own Oreo and pocky alter! That's so cool! Thanks for understanding how frustrating writer's block can be for an author, as well. I don't think I'm over it at all, but I'm trying to be really dedicated for this fic because it has so many great reviewers.  
  
Cataluna: Thanks! (Sorry, I'm running out of things to say!)  
  
ScorpionOcean: I'm glad you stumbled across it too! Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Josie: I'll update the next chapter sooner, just for you!  
  
Biganimefan1: Glad you think my fic is cool!  
  
Yosei/ambereyes: One of my fav reviewers! Or rather.. Two of my fav reviewers. You're really cool and nice and I really appreciate it when you remind me about what an ass I am by not updating! I really take it into account and try harder when you make me think about the people who are expecting an update. Also, you're funny!  
  
Gracelyn: Thank you for saying the characters aren't OOC! - the idea really plagues me when I'm writing. I'll think about posting the deleted WAFF scenes for interested reviewers.. but I'm afraid it might just be a little out of place. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
TheWhitePrincess1: The story kept you up until 4AM? Wow I'm sorry! I don't think I'm going to be writing the other fic about Kagome and Kikyo, because there were just too many complications with it - but luckily I've started up two other totally random IY fics I will not update because I'm in a writer's block, and I've got a new Rin/Sess fic coming out as well! (I LOVE that couple - only Rin has to be older.) You were one of the two that caught the coffee slip up! Eeek!  
  
TheKaitouFireFox: Aw! Thanks!  
  
Gloria Underhill: Still working on the writer's block.... ehhhhhh.. thanks for reviewing!  
  
Crystal Lily: Heh, you'll find out soon enough!  
  
KaT aka Mistress Shinigami: Yeah, I JUST got Sango in last time. (Honestly, I was tired of writing that chapter, so I cut her debut short.) But she didn't make the cut this chapter! Oh well.  
  
Cherry Destruction: Well, it WAS a long chapter! I'll try to make the next one equally as lengthy.  
  
Kai Aki Ti: Ah! Here's more! More!  
  
Tigerelly: It's continued!  
  
Hanamaru285: Thanks for reviewing!  
  
ME: You think I'm funny? Really? That means a lot to me; because I'm always worried I just come off sounding stupid in this fic. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Ka-chan: Thank you SO MUCH for suggesting the Ranma ½ fic: After You. It's been a long time since I read a good Ranma fic, and it was definitely in the spirit of 'One for the Money'.  
  
Sakura Onto Hitomi: And you were person number two to notice the coffee slip up! I'm sorry, it was just me lacking in continuity.. and also, I think, coffee plays such a major roll in my life, it's hard NOT to make Inuyasha drink it! But thanks for noticing - It's nice to know reviewers are actually paying attention!  
  
Pruning Sheers: Ah! You're like, one of new favorite reviewers! I really appreciate how you reviewed for almost every chapter - it was totally cool to find all those reviews at once. And I appreciated all of the comments you made, as well. I'm glad you liked the hamster analogy, and also - you're so right! I don't know why I made Kagome's mom make ramen, I was totally not thinking. In the future I'll try and make NO ramen comments, since you seem to have an aversion to it. However, Kagome doesn't live that far away from her family right now, so she WILL be visiting them frequently, and they will be visiting her frequently, in turn. This is mainly because in the novel this fic was originally modeled after, the main character, a fully grown woman, hangs out with her family a lot as well. Anyway, thanks for reviewing again, and I'll try and update soon!  
  
~Rio Grande. 


	9. The Demon Bounty Hunters

Hey all,  
  
Words cannot properly express how sorry I am that I took so long to update. I'm a full six months late! Ah! Thanks for the reviews, and enjoy. I don't own Inuyasha.

YY

Bitten  
  
By Rio Grande  
  
Chapter Nine: The Demon Bounty Hunters

YY

Kagome supposed that, as a federal agent of the Demon FBI, she was, most likely, obligated to do a bit more then stand in place and gawk when a female trespasser broke through her client's window whilst riding atop a feather ...... however, it seemed she was incapable of doing much else at the moment. As a new member to the colorful and ravingly random demon community, the humble college student and yet to become accustomed to such sights.  
  
Lucky for Kagome, Kouga seemed far less incapacitated than she.  
  
"HEY! Bitch! What do you think you're doing?" the lord of the house roared importantly, straightening his posture and letting a low growl seep from between clenched fangs.  
  
The woman slowly rose from her seated position on the her mode of transportation, her movements apparently addled somewhat by the heavy, expensive looking kimono she wore. Most of her face was covered by a large, ornate fan she had spread opened in front of her, but her glowing, red demon eyes were still apparent and piercing. Her short dark hair was held back by jeweled clips and feather laced hair ties. Two matching feather earrings trailed down to her shoulders on either side of her face, which was framed by matching pointed ears. She seemed eerily familiar to a still stunned miko .......  
  
"Greetings, Young Master Kouga and Lady Kagome ..." she purred in a formal tone, regarding the two stupefied people lazily, as though her arrival was not a thing to worry over at all. Then, in an almost too casual fashion, she continued: "My name is Kagura of the Wind, and I have been sent by my master to kill you both today."  
  
"WHAT?" Kagome and Kouga squawked in unison, staring incredulously at the beautiful demon. She began to giggle maliciously from behind her fan before abruptly snapping it closed, and bringing the contraption in a swooping gesture around to her left ear, still clutching it delicately between her index and middle finger with her right hand. As Kagome was finally given a full view of Kagura's face, it occurred to her just where she had seen this odd demon before.  
  
"It – it's you!" Kagome cried, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. "You were at the sushi restaurant yesterday!" She recalled her overwhelming fear at the thought of letting Keiko talk to this woman last night, and took comfort in the fact that she hadn't, actually, been freaking out – she had been dead on with her suspicion that there was more to this demoness in particular than meets the eye.  
  
Another thought became startlingly clear to Kagome as she remembered her later panic on the way home, dashing down the streets and half crazed with fear as she felt an evil presence in the back of her mind, accompanied by a maniacal laugh and a pair of taunting, luminescent red eyes.  
  
"You've been following me!" the twenty year old accused.  
  
"She has?" Kouga asked, his brow furrowing with confusion.  
  
"Why yes, I have," Kagura assured the young wolf prince. "But don't you worry Kouga, Kagome hasn't been getting all of my attention. I have been keeping my eye on you as well. And after some time of observing you and your kind, I'd say I have a pretty good idea of how to best kill you."  
  
This seemed to be the last straw for the terribly irate and confused wolf youkai, and he cracked his knuckles threateningly at Kagura's daring last statement.  
  
"The hell you do!" he responded, an intense anger burning in his eyes at the thought that this witch had been spying on he and probably his clan for some time without their knowing. With the blink of an eye he was starting forward, looking as though he meant to do serious harm to Kagura, or at least teach her not to mess with the youkai wolf clan.  
  
"Kouga, wait!" Kagome cried after Kouga, making a futile gesture to hold him back as he easily moved faster than her arms could keep up with, racing towards Kagura with no further hesitance.  
  
"Silly wolf ..." Kagura cooed, letting the fan that had remained aloft through out her disturbing speech come crashing down in front of her in one powerful motion, softly speaking the words: "The Wind Blade's Dance!"  
  
And then it fully dawned on Kagome just how much shit she was in as about a dozen, blade shape pockets of hair came swooping towards she had Kouga, evidently created by Kagura's fan and some sort of wind magic. Kouga made a startled noise in the back of his throat and had to stop his charging in favor of expertly dodging all of the unprecedented attacks, only letting one through to slice him along his left arm.  
  
Kagome cried out in fear and dove to the ground, covering her head until the attack had passed.  
  
'This is bad this is bad this is bad ...' she repeated to herself in a nervous litany as she rose up from the marble floor just enough to grab her semi-automatic from the holster on her thigh. She regarded the mean, silver looking gun in her hand cautiously for a moment before sighing and clicking off the safety.  
  
Meanwhile, Kouga had sank to his knees in a protective stance as he regarded his arm, which was now sluggishly bleeding through his polo tee-shirt from the his fresh wound. He clutched the gash tightly and then glared at Kagura once more, a new gleam in his dark eyes. This woman was apparently far more dangerous than he had first presumed.  
  
"Oi, you – just who IS this master of yours?" he inquired guardedly. Kagura grinned knowingly at the prince, sensing that he was singing a new tune now that he knew she was a Wind Witch and meant serious business.  
  
"Why, Naraku of course." Kagura replied, in a statement that was almost identical to the one Yura of the Hair had said nearly a week ago. Kagome rolled her eyes knowingly and rose up a bit so she could more properly aim her weapon. So this witch worked for Naraku – big fucking surprise.  
  
"Naraku!" Kouga gasped, this all being quite a new concept for him, where it was more of a daily routine for Kagome, really. "So I am being hunted! Well, it ends here." He rose fully to his feet once more. "Do not underestimate me, witch! The Wolf Prince is a formidable opponent."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure you are," Kagura replied in all seriousness. "You're just not quite as good as I am ...."  
  
Kouga looked as though he would have liked to say something in response to THAT as well, and Kagome had just decided she had a pretty good shot at the seemingly open Kagura, when the door to the room burst open and three frantic looking wolf demons tumbled into the large room.  
  
"Master Kouga!" They all cried in unison, quickly assessing the scene. Threatening demon surrounded by shattered window glass, emitting bad vibes and staring hungrily at their wounded leader while his human guard fiddled with a gun in the background. Hm.  
  
"Look OUT!" Kouga and Kagome hollered desperately in response. But it was too late.  
  
With the blink of an eye, Kagura made another intricate slashing motion with her cursed fan, and more sling blade shaped wind pockets were flying at the surprised wolf guards. The second two wolves seemed to have enough time to smoothly roll out of harms way ... but the first guard was left defenseless, and was quickly slashed to pieces by the powerful attack.  
  
"Toku!" Kouga roared with fury, as one of his clansmen collapsed to the floor in a bloody mess, never to rise again.  
  
"Oh God ..." Kagome murmured, shuddering and looking away.  
  
"You're going to pay, bitch!" Kouga cried, leaping to his feet with his two guards standing behind him, starting forward once more with a purpose to his step.  
  
"No Kouga, let me handle this!" Kagome cried out, realizing her attempts at keeping the 'potential victim' from entering the fray were futile even as she said this. She had a feeling, though, that she couldn't take on this witch alone. Where was Inuyasha? "I'll just have to handle this myself, or at least until Inuyasha senses something is wrong ..." she thought to herself, aiming the gun once more, and desperately praying that her miko powers were sending Inuyasha some truly ear shattering distress signals right about then. "Dammit! Kouga get out of the way – I don't want to shoot you!"  
  
"Let me dispose of her, Kagome!" Kouga called back to the miko, addressing her familiarly. "This bitch killed my clan brother – she's my prey now!"  
  
"But it just doesn't WORK that way!" Kagome muttered, sighing and jogging closer to the fray, hoping to catch Kagura when she was away from the three frenzied fighters. She seemed to have gotten Kouga and his two guards into quite a state.  
  
The fight appeared to be terribly uneven. Although Kouga had inordinate amounts of speed, and all of the wolves were inhumanly strong – Kagura's endless barrage of devastating wind attacks weren't giving them many openings. It looked as though every punch the wolves tried to score could be countered by a flick of Kagura's delicate wrist, and already all three demons were bleeding heavily from various wounds on their bodies.  
  
"You two are small fries!" Kagura declared boldly, regarding the two wolf guards. With one strong jab she attacked the guard on the left of Kouga, and he wasn't fast enough to avoid the super-sized wind blade she created. The clansmen was torn almost completely in half, and fell to the floor without so much as a cry of protest, his mismatched blue eyes still wide with surprise.  
  
"Shino!" Kouga and the last remaining guard growled with fury. Kagura chortled gleefully and skipped backwards, apparently unaffected.  
  
"That's IT!" Kagome cried, seeing an opening as Kouga and his comrade stood over their dead friend in a moment of complete shock. She tried very hard to keep at least one eye open as she took aim at Kagura and pulled the trigger of her gun, firing upon a live person for the first time ever. Three piercing shots rang out through the room, drawing everyone's attention to the small girl.  
  
"Hey!" Kagura bit out furiously as she barely had time to whip open her fan in defense. One of Kagome's shots hit the wall just behind Kagura, and the other two were deflected off her fan, ricocheting onto other parts of the room.  
  
"Don't move! The next shot WILL hit you!" Kagome threatened, deciding she would sound a whole lot more intimidating if it wasn't so very obvious to all that her knees were shaking rather violently.  
  
"Oh, so you weren't really planing to hit me the first time?" Kagura inquired slyly. Kagome looked a bit nervous, realizing that Kagura understood just how bad her aim currently was, but didn't have any remaining time to dwell upon this thought as Kagura raised her fan into the air once more. "Die, miko!"  
  
"Ahh!" Kagome shrieked, desperately hurling herself out of harms way as Kagura performed a terrific diving motion with the fan that caused the marble floor beneath her to begin to break up. The blast continued on towards Kagome through the erupting floor, hitting a couch and violently throwing it across the room and out a still un-broken window, that promptly shattered after the couch was tossed through it.  
  
"Ugh!" the girl gasped as the blast made the floor below her toss her through the air in a tumultuous bucking motion, directly into a large wooden book case. She felt her head crack against it painfully and briefly saw a blinding white color in front of her eyes before the attack ended.  
  
"Kagome!" Kouga shouted worriedly at the miko, his cry both a statement and a question.  
  
"I'm okay!" Kagome replied, shakily getting to her feet and wiping away the trickle of blood coming from her mouth. She had bitten her tongue when she was slammed against the bookcase. "She didn't get me ..."  
  
"No ...... but 'next time I WILL hit you.'" Kagura purred tauntingly, bringing her fan up for round two.  
  
"No way!" Kouga barked, hurling himself at Kagura with this last remaining, but no less determined, guard. "I will protect my home and destroy you!"  
  
"You keep saying that!" Kagura laughed as the two wolves tried to confuse her by zigzagging to a fro in a round about route to their prey. "But you have yet to successfully do either!" With that she leapt into the air, and a great gust of wind filled the room, seeming to momentarily hold her aloft. She used this time to look down upon the shocked demons, and use this distraction to her benefit. Four consecutive wind blades were shot out at the guard demon, and he didn't seem to have the speed Kouga had been gifted with to avoid them all.  
  
"Ari..." Kouga groaned resignedly, coming near his clansmen as he quickly met his gory end thanks to a deep, life-snuffing blow across his torso.  
  
"I – I tried M-master Kougaaa ......." the wolf rasped before letting his head loll to the side listlessly.  
  
"Well, three down ... two to go!" Kagura exclaimed joyously. "The Wind Blade's Dance!"  
  
"No!" Kouga had the sense to leap well out of harms way, showing adroitness and cunning that his friends hadn't as all of Kagura's attacks missed this time and slammed into nearby walls. It amazed Kagome that Kouga was still able to move so gracefully after receiving so much damage.  
  
'Well, he is a full youkai – and a prince at that. He must be pretty powerful.' she reflected, stealthily crawling around the side of the room and trying to find a place to stand where Kagura wouldn't notice her attack. If she could just get a shot or two in, she knew the witch would go down – these were blessed, silver bullets after all ...... 'But Kagura looks so unscathed after all of this fighting, I wonder if these will even be enough.'  
  
"I'd say it's about time we wrapped things up, don't you?" Kagura asked, staring at Kouga as she spoke while Kagome crouched down sneakily in the area behind her, cocking her gun. "You look like you'll be the easiest to maim!" With that Kagura spun around, shocking Kagome into stillness with the abrupt movement she made. How had she known she was behind her?  
  
"No!" Kouga roared, watching as Kagura prepared to launch an attack he knew Kagome could not hope to dodge this time.  
  
"Eek!" Kagome added, realizing her plan had backfired on her and covering her face with her hands in an utterly futile defensive motion. Kagura had just begun to swing her arm around for the death blow when a new voice broke through the haze of blood and fury hanging thickly in the room.  
  
"STOP!"  
  
No sooner was this one word uttered than an altogether blinding flash of light came careening forward, slashing resolutely in front of Kagome and effectively incinerating all of the wind attacks. It was the transformed Tetsusaiga.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped in total relief, looking up at the FBI agent who was now standing in his usual pose – a protective stance in front of her, sword held firmly in both hands, a threatening snarl coming from his mouth.  
  
"The killing stops here Kagura!" he declared boldly. Kagura looked mildly shocked for a second, her pure red eyes wide with surprise, but she quickly schooled her expression into a much more relaxed state.  
  
"We will see." she murmured, snapping her decoratively colored fan open in front of her face once more and smirking.

YYY

"The kitchens are this way – I am under the impression that you are here to help with the minor piping problems we have been experiencing with the sinks, although I must say I never considered this an issue we would need to hire outsiders to help us with. The staff of the wolf demon compound is more than prepared to take care of issues like this ... your assistance here is really quite unnecessary Still, if it's what the master wants......."  
  
Inuyasha had no idea how he had been left with the all-important, stuffy and blatantly rude servant 'Mr.' Tsuyame while Kagome was lead on a grand tour of the wolf mansion by the horny wolf prince himself, however he got the distinct impression it was just God expressing once more how much he really disliked Inuyasha. Inuyasha wished there was some way to show God that the feeling was mutual.  
  
'I don't know why Kagome has to be alone with that stuck up Prince ...... that wasn't the plan! That wasn't how we said things were going to go this morning at headquarters!' Inuyasha thought furiously, realizing somewhere, far, far back in his mind that the fact that everything was not going according to plan wasn't really why he did not want Kagome alone with the sly Kouga for any extended period of time.  
  
"So, we're headin' to the ....... kitchens." Inuyasha replied in his well practiced, slow drawl, keeping his eyes shaded with his cap lest the servant see the barely checked fury bubbling beneath his calm expression for what it really was.  
  
"Yes, that is what I just said," Mr. Tsuyame sighed irritably, regarding Inuyasha as a simpleton. Inuyasha idly cracked his knuckles as though readying himself for some nonexistent battle.  
  
Inuyasha didn't think it would be very productive to get stuck in the kitchens, since he doubted Naraku would be interested in food were he to come upon the wolf mansion, and quickly tried to find a way out of spending his time doing miscellaneous chores around the compound under the hawk-like watch of Mr. Tsuyame.  
  
"Uh, hey partner, how 'bout ah take a look at some of the rooms that'll be used for the ball later this week. Ah am goin' to be doin' most of the manual preparation for that party, so, uh, maybe that would be the thing to do firs' ......." Inuyasha suggested with what he hoped was a genial smile. Mr. Tsuyame stared at Inuyasha flatly.  
  
"That's fine I suppose Mr, uh," Mr. Tsuyame glanced at Inuyasha's name tag briefly. "Yokuyamu. But just what sort of 'manual preparation' is required for the ball I wonder? The servants can handle most of it, and unless there are toilets that need unclogging in all of the ballrooms I doubt there is much need of a plumber like yourself around here. You are here to fix the pipes in the kitchen, that's your job as far as this gala is concerned." Inuyasha held back a large growl at the very obvious condescending tone in Mr. Tsuyame's voice. This guy was unbelievable.  
  
"Well ..... you're the boss ....." Inuyasha gritted out, wondering if the people back at headquarters were catching all of this on his concealed earpiece, and just how much fun they were going to poke at him when the assignment was over and done with.  
  
"Good. Glad we have that cleared up. Now, if you'll follow me ......" Mr. Tsuyame said firmly, turning towards the kitchen doors.  
  
"Hey!" Inuyasha barked abruptly, halting the tall, thin wolf demon once more.  
  
"What is it now?" Mr. Tsuyame groaned, laboriously moving to look at the troublesome hired help.  
  
"Do you smell that?" Inuyasha inquired, sticking his nose in the air and momentarily loosing his accent as his nostrils flared.  
  
"Smell what?" Mr. Tsuyame replied stiffly, sniffing the air as well with his sensitive nose, and frowning deeply. "I don't smell anything."  
  
"It's the wind ....... it smells ...... like blood." Inuyasha murmured darkly. Mr. Tsuyame stared at Inuyasha blankly.  
  
"Quite." he replied dryly.  
  
"Of course you can't smell it, your nose isn't as sensitive as a dog-demon's," Inuyasha mumbled gruffly by way of a response, turning on his heal and heading towards a pair of large glass doors that led out into the sprawling expanse of gardens behind the mansion. He threw them open roughly and walked out into the sunny winter day, sniffing the air almost violently the whole while.  
  
"Hey! Hey come back here – you can't just wander around the compound you know!" Mr. Tsuyame cried, rushing after Inuyasha with his tailcoats flying and looking as though he might like to slap the plumber.  
  
Once outside, Inuyasha took a long look around the property, half expecting some carnal assassin to pop out of the woodwork at any moment. But when nothing happened he became frustrated and frowned darkly. He knew that scent! That bloody, angry scent could only belong to ......  
  
"Inuyasha! Inuyasha you MUST find Kouga and Kagome! They're in great danger! There's an assassin attacking them in the common room and it's threatening to overwhelm their forces!" the sound of an agent back at headquarters speaking through Inuyasha's earpiece confirmed the hanyou's greatest fears, and he felt his blood run cold. Kagome ......  
  
"Dammit! Where's the common room!" Inuyasha roared angrily, unable to reply to the agent's warning, only capable of hearing it. If only he'd brought his walky talky!  
  
"Uhh ......" Mr. Tsuyame said, giving Inuyasha a decidedly queer look and wondering if the half demon had a few dozen screws loose.  
  
Luckily, it was at that moment that a large red velvet couch came crashing out of the window above the duo, flying through the air and landing in an unused fountain some yards behind Inuyasha and the alarmed servant. It was accompanied by a terrible scream and an even more blood curdling war-cry that made the birds that had been peacefully moving about the courtyard take to the air frantically.  
  
"Never mind, I think I found it," Inuyasha murmured distantly, tensing his legs and jumping towards the mansion, making it to the balcony of the third floor with one impressive leap. Mr. Tsuyame did nothing but gape in awe as he watched the plumber fly away, and in through the recently broken window.  
  
When Inuyasha made it to the third floor, he didn't quite know what he was expecting ...... but what he found was certainly worse than anything he could have thought up on his own.  
  
The entire room, which once might have been a lavishly decorated and even considered a comfortable space, he was sure, had been reduced to a virtual battle ground. The marble floor was completely massacred, nearly every single wall was slashed to pieces and all of the furniture had been overturned. The scent of blood hung so thickly in the air Inuyasha had to take a step back to regain his senses, noticing evidence of the actual blood smeared across the walls and floor. He even spotted a couple of the lifeless, broken bodies the blood had come from ...... he found he could breath again when he made sure none of the fallen wolf demons were Kagome. But, where WAS Kagome?  
  
"EEK!"  
  
'Ah.' Inuyasha thought resignedly, spotting his partner backed into a corner, covering her head and shaking violently as a woman dressed in a rich kimono and clutching a fan advanced on her. Inuyasha immediately recognized the repugnant stench he had smelt outside wafting off the new demon's body heavily. And then he watched the demon woman raise her fan that glinted dangerously in the sunlight above her head, preparing to swing down upon Kagome with no sign of hesitance.  
  
"STOP!" Inuyasha found the words tumbling unconsciously from his mouth as he felt a brief state of panic wash over him, understanding for the first time that this woman meant to, and very well could, kill Kagome. He launched himself forward with more speed than he knew he possessed, and whipping off of his back the Tetsusaiga that had been previously concealed as a broom ....... he gracefully released it from its temporary wooden sheath and swung forward with all of his demon power coursing through his veins. And then, for the third time that week, the Tetsusaiga evolved into its greater self; a wide, glimmering blade with the potential to smite a hundred demons with one blow.  
  
He tensed his arm muscles as he swung the blade in front of Kagome and let the broad side of the Tetsusaiga catch all of the wind attacks that were being flung at the scared miko. Each hit strained his arm, and surprised him with their force.  
  
"Inuyasha!" he heard Kagome gasp in relief. Inuyasha tried to give his partner a comforting smile, but found he was incapable of doing so in his current distressed state. If he had been just a few minutes later ......  
  
After that, Inuyasha was vaguely aware of himself saying something very heroic and daring to the threatening wind witch, when really what he was focused on was assessing the damage to the actual people in the room. Out of the corner of his eye he could tell that Kagome was basically in fine shape. She had a purpling bruise on one cheek bone accompanied by a split lip, and her gun seemed to have already been put to use, but other than that she was physically all right. Across the room, the victim he and Kagome had been assigned to protect was entirely another story. Kouga was covered from head to toe in mean looking lacerations, and he was panting far too hard for someone of his skill level. There were also three corpses of wolf demon guards in various states of mutilation around the room. This wind demon meant business, apparently.  
  
"We will see," he heard the witch murmur, and at the underlying threat in her tone he found himself lifting his heavy blade aloft once more, ready to defend the girl slumped behind him as well as the demon prince across the way.  
  
'Knew I shouldn't have left these two alone.' Inuyasha thought disgustedly to himself as Kagura raised her arms for a new attack.  
  
"Now that I've done away with some of Young Master Kouga's lackeys .... I think it's time to put them to good use." Kagura crooned suggestively.  
  
"What do you mean!?" Kouga demanded, gathering his strength to stand up as straight as he could and stare the powerful woman down. Kagura said nothing to that inquiry, but merely performed yet another complicated pattern with her fan. Kagome sucked in a breath as she was able to see with her naked eye the magic twist itself around Kagura's fan as she did so.  
  
"She's performing a spell!" she warned everyone in the room. "And it's a powerful one – stop her!"  
  
"Right," Inuyasha agreed, starting forward and distantly acknowledging Kouga doing the same thing from the other side of the room, trailing blood all the while.  
  
But before either demon could make it to Kagura they were both stopped in their tracks by new opponents. Or rather, old ones, reborn.  
  
"Shino! Toku!" Kouga gasped, looking on in shock as his friends, who he had thought to be dead, abruptly got to their feet and stood in front of he and Inuyasha, creating a living blockade. They stood hunched over and looking as though there was something actually holding them up, especially the way their destroyed bodies seemed to be barely keeping themselves together. Shino was missing one arm and practically his entire face, and Toku's head was split directly down the middle. Still,they were on their feet ....... there just seemed to be something very wrong with their eyes. They were so blank .......  
  
"Those demons .... they are ...... not really alive," Kagome confirmed in a shaky voice, unable to believe was she was seeing.  
  
"This is disgusting," Inuyasha admitted, wrinkling his nose as the smell of rotting flesh invaded his senses. Kouga appeared to have been stunned into silence at the sight of his dead friend glaring at him with hollow, lifeless eyes. "She's a necromancer."  
  
"It's true, I make the dead dance for me," Kagura admitted, flicking her fan ever so slightly. "But they dance so prettily, and so well ...... I just can't help it."  
  
With that, the two dead wolf demons hurled themselves forward, one heading for Inuyasha and the other for Kouga. Inuyasha frowned and blocked the undead wolf's attacks with his sword, but Kouga merely yelped in distress and backpedaled furiously, trying to avoid his ex-comrad.  
  
"Kouga! You've got to fight him!" Inuyasha hollered, slicing his own opponent in half with one clean swipe. The corpse moved about a bit even after it hit the floor in three different pieces, but eventually fell still.  
  
"I-I can't! It's Toku!" Kouga cried in distress.  
  
"That's not Toku anymore. The real Toku would never want to hurt you, and would hate it even more if you let some wind witch use his body to get to you. Kill him and put his soul to rest." Inuyasha advised, showing a rare bout of sensitivity and wisdom. Kouga blinked owlishly at Inuyasha once, before nodding firmly and turning back to his old friend.  
  
"Sorry Toku." He murmured, before racing forward and ending the dancing corpse's half life with one merciful punch.  
  
"Good job," Inuyasha congratulated, nodding towards the wolf.  
  
"Thanks, I - "  
  
"AHH!"  
  
"Kagome!" both demon's cried, spinning around to find the Wind Witch they had momentarily forgotten, and the last corpse they had not seen come to life, standing around Kagome, the corpse holding her captive from behind.  
  
"S-sorry Inuyasha..." she gasped pathetically from around the animated cadaver's muscular arm.  
  
"Dammit......" Inuyasha growled, looking at Kagura's infuriatingly smug expression.  
  
"Hmm... what will the brave Agent do now?" she hissed, cocking an eyebrow. "I'll only let the girl live if you both surrender your lives to Naraku."  
  
"Never!" Kouga roared, his eyes taking on a crazed gleam, apparently having been finally pushed over the edge.  
  
"Well then...... I guess the miko gets it." Kagura sighed, shrugging and lifting her fan towards a prone Kagome.  
  
"Wait!" Inuyasha and Kouga cried in unison, lurching forward to stop Kagura. However, before Inuyasha had even covered a two feet, he felt something violently grab him from behind and swipe him viscously across the side. "Argh!" the half demon shouted in pain, collapsing to the floor and clutching his heavily bleeding wound.  
  
"Toku!" Kouga gasped in disbelief. The dead wolf he had just felled once more was back on his feet. There was an impressively large hole through his stomach now, but it hadn't stopped him from taking a chunk out of Inuyasha's side with just his bare hands.  
  
Taking Inuyasha and Kouga's moment of surprise as a time to attack, Kagura raised her fan to the heavens and cried out the words: "TORNADO ATTACK!" Instantaneously, numerous mini tornados began to form through out the room, making a terrible whirring noise and spreading books and other miscellaneous objects about chaotically. Kouga and Inuyasha howled in pain as the tornado's fell upon them, pounding them into the ground and opening fresh wounds.  
  
"Gyah!" Inuyasha screamed as he flung himself out of the way of one tornado, only to be swamped by another. He felt as though he was being pulled apart, and could barely left his arms to use the Tetsusaiga. Just who WAS this wind witch, and how was it she had so much power? There was something about her scent......  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, distressed as she watched her partner be flung about the room. "Stop it! Let them go! Why are you doing this?" Kagome asked Kagura desperately, fury raging in her brown eyes.  
  
"Because Naraku is my master." Kagura replied simply, something like bitterness flashing across her face for a moment. Kagome caught the look and frowned lightly. "And because it's fun to dispose of low class scum like you." she added as an afterthought, raising her fan for the move that would claim Kagome's life.  
  
"No!" Kagome cried, turning her head to the side in fear and making one last attempt to muscle her way out of the powerful wolf's suffocating hold. The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was Inuyasha being thrown across the room by one of the many rampant tornados. 'Inuyasha......'  
  
SWOOOP!  
  
The sound of something heavy being flung through the air reached Kagome's ears, and after a moment she heard something clutter to the floor. Surprised what had hit the floor wasn't her own head, she quickly opened her eyes in confusion. What had just happened, and why hadn't she been killed? She glanced up just in time to see the mysterious heavy object careen away from Kagura, who was scowling deeply and clutching the hand she used to hold her fan, as though in pain. The fan in question lay a few feet away from her now.  
  
"Damn!" she hissed, massaging her injured wrist.  
  
"What the......" Kagome murmured in wonder as she watched the heavy object, an overly large boomerang, fly smoothly back into the hands of an attractive woman sitting on top of what looked to be a white, fanged cat demon with a tail made of fire. The woman had dark brown hair held back in a high pony tail and gray, mysterious eyes. She wore all black and sported a large leather belt around her middle that held a collection of dangerous looking weapons.  
  
"You all right?" she asked Kagome, while strapping the large boomerang, made of an unknown substance, onto her back. Kagome could only blink in response.  
  
"Kagome, say something!" Another voice ordered. Kagome automatically recognized the voice as Miroku's, and smiled in relief at the sight of a familiar face, noticing for the first time that Miroku was seated directly behind the odd woman on the giant cat.  
  
"Miroku, thank God you're here!" Kagome cried.  
  
"Kagura, release that girl and call off the tornados!" the woman ordered, leaping from the cat and running towards a momentarily defenseless Kagura, drawing a gun from a holster on her belt. Cursing, Kagura reached for her lost fan, but was intercepted by a quick, efficient kick from the woman. Kagura retracted her hand quickly, holding it daintily as bruises began to form.  
  
"What the Hell are you doing here, Sango? You're supposed to be three cities away." Kagura accused angrily.  
  
"Where you and your master go, I go." Sango replied evenly. "You had me fooled for a while, but I've figured you out now." This statement seemed to make Kagura even more angered, and she turned to the wolf holding Kagome with an evil sneer on her face.  
  
"Kill the girl now!" she ordered.  
  
"Agh!" Kagome gasped as she felt the dead wolf demon's large hands close in around her throat painfully. Luckily, the pain was short lived as Miroku appeared behind the wolf, quickly bashing him over the head with his staff and then kicking him firmly away from Kagome, who immediately fell to the ground, clutching her throat. Miroku then proceeded to beat the demon with his staff until it was nothing more than a bloody pulp, finally dead.  
  
"What are you going to do now Kagura? All of your cronies are dead, and without your fan you're not much of a fighter." Sango pointed out in a cold voice, her gun aimed at the demon, and her face emotionless.  
  
"And soon you will be too!" roared Inuyasha from the side, shooting out from the debris the tornados had caused with the Tetsusaiga in hand. Behind him the tornados had been defeated by the impressive blade already, and as he lunged at Kagura it gleamed brightly in the light, promising more death.  
  
"Aha!" Kagura shouted, grabbing her fan up while Sango remained surprised by Inuyasha's abrupt appearance on the scene. She held it protectively in front of her and shouted "Wind Blade's Dance!"  
  
An arc of wind came at Inuyasha's sword as he thrust down on the witch. Everyone watched in awe as the Tetsusaiga cut through Kagura's attack as though it were butter, and then continued downward to slash Kagura across her chest.  
  
"Ack!" She cried, eyes wide in disbelief as her fan fell to the ground in pieces, and her kimono hung off her in wrags, a large gash down her middle bleeding all over her pale skin. 'How has he done this?' Kagura wondered in amazement, looking at Inuyasha's blade as he stepped back, covered in blood and sweat himself, to observe his handiwork. 'How is he able to weild that blade? What is that sword's secret? To cut through MY wind spell.......'  
  
"Well." Kagura said aloud, backing slowly away towards the window, even as Sango followed her, gun still at the ready. "Until next time....." with that she swiped one of the feathers in her hair and threw it into the air, surprising everyone as the feather began to expand to many times its size in a puff of magic.  
  
"No!" Sango yelled, shooting at the feather as Kagura gracefully leaped on top of it, holding her kimono together with her uninjured hand. The feather seemed to act as a shield, and the bullets bounced off it harmlessly. Sango scowled deeply and made a run for her cat.  
  
"I won't let you get away!" Kouga screamed and, with the last of his strength, leaped for the feather, powerful arms outstretched. Kagura merely grinned down wryly at the wolf prince as she floated away unharmed, Kouga crashing to the floor.  
  
"Byeee......." she hummed tauntingly, disappearing into the horizon.  
  
"We've got to follow her!" Inuyasha exclaimed, heading towards the window with Kouga right behind him, both men sporting bared fangs and nasty sneers.  
  
"I don't think either of you gentlemen are up for any wild chases just now. Look at you, you're about to fall to pieces." Miroku pointed out, smoothly stepping in front of the two irate demons, and motioning to their bodies. Both males took a moment to look down at themselves, and then at one another, snarling in anger as they realized they had to agree with Miroku. They were in terrible shape, especially after the tornado attack, Kouga moreso than Inuyasha. Their entire bodies were covered with deep lacerations, their clothes hung off them in shreds, and their postures were those of elderly men on their last breath. They were in no shape for a wild goose chase, by foot no less. Miroku raised an eyebrow at them and shrugged, as though to say 'C'est la vite'.  
  
"Those two might not be in well enough shape for a chase, but I certainly am," Sango said, as she and her giant cat made a run for the window, catching everyone by surprise. "I'll call if I need help."  
  
"Sango, wait for backup! We can do this together!" Miroku called, turning towards Sango's retreating figure with a worried expression on his handsome features.  
  
"Not enough time! I'll lose her if I wait! Don't worry!" Sango called over her shoulder before totally disappearing from sight.  
  
"Wait, I never got to say thank you for saving me!" Kagome gasped, coming to stand next to Miroku and looking desperately out into the blue sky of the afternoon. "Miroku, who was that woman?"  
  
"Yeah, that's what I'd like to know." Inuyasha said, approaching Miroku while using his sword as a cane. He had truly taken a beating this time. Kagome took one look at him and immediately was at his side, coaxing him to sit down and beginning to shred the remains of his shirt to make makeshift bandages for his more grievous injuries. Inuyasha sighed at her actions but made no move to stop the determined girl. It had become sort of routine for them.  
  
On the side, Kouga collapsed against a wall and slid to the floor, where he sat in a crumpled heap while regarding Miroku carefully. He apeared to be in shock, and Kagome made to try and help him as well, but when she came near he shooed her away firmly, immediately straightening up and trying to look like a picture of health. Kagome wasn't fooled in the least, but Inuyasha, looking grouchy, pulled her back towards him.  
  
"That was Sango Ryoushi. And don't worry about thankyous Kagome....... you'll have plenty of time to thank her later. She's going to be working with us on the Naraku case now, after all." Miroku said, still gazing pensively out the window.  
  
"Ah....... so that was THE Sango," Inuyasha commented with a small smile.  
  
"THE Sango? What do you mean THE Sango?" Kagome questioned, as Inuyasha batted her hand away from one of his wounds in favor of rolling up her sleave to get a look at her own injuries. He frowned as he located various hand shaped bruises covering her arms, no doubt thanks to the undead wolf demon. One hand idly trailed up to her head to feel the bleeding wound that had been formed when she was smashed into a book case.  
  
"Well -" Miroku began hesitantly, before being cut off by a barrage of wolf demons who came dashing into the room, swamping Kouga and fretting over his injuries, packing at least thirty wolf demons into the already cluttered and utterly destroyed common room.  
  
"Prince Kouga! What's happened to you! Who did this! You're a wreck!" The wolves cried, lifting Kouga up from under his shoulders and smothering him with their attention. Others crowded around the utterly mutilated bodies of their fallen clansmen, moaning their distress.  
  
"You!" One of the wolves cried, turning and pointing a finger down at Inuyasha and Kagome. "You were supposed to protect Master Kouga from this sort of thing! What happened here, and why didn't you protect him! Are you useless?"  
  
"Ginta..... calm down." Kouga coughed, drawing everyone's attention back to the beaten wolf prince. "It's not their fault. They fought valiantly....... but we were faced with a formidable foe. Naraku's cronies are responsible for this massacre." The wolf demons gasped in disbelief as the Demon FBI crew got to their feet and tried to make themselves look respectable.  
  
"That's right...... he's really targeted this clan. And that officially makes him an enemy of the Wolf Clan. He will not get away with this, and we will not rest until he is dead. We must avenge those who have fallen today, and our pride as a tribe." There was a collection of wildly enthusiastic howls of approval, and Kagome, Inuyasha and Miroku awkwardly shuffled their feet in a corner, feeling completely out of place.  
  
"You." Kouga said, addressing the three agents. "As Prince of the honorable Wolf Clan, I swear we will do all we can to aide you in your cause. Naraku is now our enemy as well."  
  
"Uh, that's a real sweat offer Kouga...... but we don't need help from civilians." Inuyasha said pompously, even as he used Kagome's shoulder for support. The girl eyed him incredulously.  
  
"Are you sure about that Inuyasha? Based on today, I'd say we could use all the help we can get." Miroku pointed out.  
  
"Shut up!" Inuyasha hissed.  
  
"Well, let me put it this way." Kouga said, frowning once more at the half demon. "Whether you like it or not, this clan is now involved with the Naraku case, and you can bet on seeing much more of us in the future. If you want our help or not, it doesn't matter to me. Naraku and Kagura will be mine for this humiliation. Also," he added slyly, grinning weekly at Kagome. "I wouldn't want to see a pretty, brave lady like Ms. Kagome here get killed because of your stupidity." With that the wolf demon began to hobble out of the room, his many clansmen soberly following him, as others went to collect the remains of the fallen guards. Inuyasha gawked after the Prince with an expression that clearly said he would have like to retaliated to that last statement, but could think of nothing to say immediately.  
  
"He's going to be trouble for us, isn't he?" he asked no one in particular.  
  
"Yep." Miroku agreed, sighing.  
  
"He's pretty stubborn." Kagome admitted, blushing just a bit.  
  
"Well...... we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now I think we should make our way back to headquarters. I want to see if Kaede has any news on Sango. I don't think she's going to be able to catch Kagura...... but if she's in trouble..... I'd like to be there." Miroku said.  
  
"Heh, worried about your girlfriend? From what I've heard, Sango can handle herself just fine. That boomerang trick is pretty impressive, anyway." Inuyasha commented slyly as the trio headed towards the exit.  
  
"Girlfriend? Miroku! Is Sango your girlfriend? You've never mentioned it!" Kagome gasped in surprise.  
  
"No. No she's not my girlfriend I'm afraid." Miroku quickly corrected Kagome, frowning and abruptly walking ahead of she and Inuyasha, his posture tense.  
  
"Um, touchy subject?" Kagome asked Inuyasha, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. She had never seen Miroku get so closed off like that. It was a bit disconcerting.  
  
"Well, I don't know the whole story." Inuyasha shrugged, and wouldn't say anymore.  
  
"Let's just get out of here." Kagome sighed, too exhausted to put up a fight.

YYY

Some hours later, Kagome found herself back at headquarters, sitting in the conference room with Inuyasha, Miroku and Kaede. She and Inuyasha and already been to the infirmary, Inuyasha only because it was a direct order from Kaede. Now Inuyasha somewhat resembled a mummy thanks to all of his bandages, and Kagome an eggplant due to the many bruises covering her body. Kaede sat at the end of the table, her eyes closed and her hands clasped together; she had just heard the entire story of what happened and the Wolf Clan compound from both Inuyasha and Kagome, and looked slightly troubled.  
  
"So it is true, Kagura of the Wind truly IS in Tokyo." she sighed in a resigned way.  
  
"Yes. We had thought that she was still in Kyoto ..... we're lucky Sango tracked her down and was able to aid us in this fight, otherwise I'm not so sure how we would have faired." Miroku said uneasily.  
  
"I could have taken her on alone!" Inuyasha snorted stubbornly. "Not to say that Sango wasn't a help, but....."  
  
"So wait, we already knew of Kagura's existence?" Kagome asked, frowning. "Just who is she anyway? Another demon hired by Naraku?"  
  
"More than that I am afraid......." Kaede stated darkly. "She is - "  
  
"- Naraku's protégé, is a sense." a new voice interjected. All eyes turned to the door as Sango strutted into the room, her large boomerang still firmly strapped to her back, and a small cat with two tails draped across her shoulders. She looked strong and exotic compared to the collection of exhausted, bandaged agents laying about the room. "Some say she is even a part of Naraku. An extension of himself he created using the tainted power of the cursed shikon no tama. She had been stirring up things in Kyoto for some time, curiously far away from her master, until very recently when she was apparently called back here to Tokyo." Sango took a seat near Kaede at the conference table, her steely eyes glinting purposefully. "To me it says that things are finally coming to a head for Naraku. We are running out of time if he is gathering all of his followers to this place, and attacking civilians with pure souls so frequently. Once the shikon no tama is fully tainted, there will be no holding him back."  
  
"Quite." Kaede agreed, heaving a great sigh.  
  
"Well, everyone, this is Sango Ryoushi. I'm sure she's pleased to meet you," Miroku chirped sarcastically.  
  
"Charmed." Sango deadpanned.  
  
"Hm, it's nice to finally meet you Sango. I've heard quite a lot about you from Miroku and Kaede. Apparently it was a real blow when you left the force," Inuyasha said, folding his arms and giving the stony Sango an appraising look. Sango shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.  
  
"I had my reasons," she stated simply.  
  
"Wait, you were part of the FBI's Demon Investigation Unit before?" Kagome asked, confused. "When?"  
  
"Before I got here." Inuyasha answered.  
  
"Almost three years ago now." Sango added. The small cat demon around her shoulders leaped onto the long silver table and tentatively approached Kagome. Kagome smiled eagerly and petted the adorable creature, just holding back a giggle as it began to purr.  
  
"Actually, Inuyasha was hired as Sango's replacement after she left us." Kaede informed the group.  
  
'So she knew Kikyo,' Kagome thought to herself, tucking that information away, to be used at a later time.  
  
"And for these past three years, I have dedicated my life to hunting down Kagura and destroying she and her master." Sango added passionately.  
  
"Do you have some sort of personal vendetta against Kagura?" Kagome asked, cocking her head and feeling as though she was missing something important.  
  
"Yeah, and why did you leave the force in the first place? I never found out why." Inuyasha admitted. Sango averted her eyes at this question, and Miroku and Kaede got uncomfortable looks on their faces. Apparently Inuyasha and Kagome had hit on something important.  
  
"Yes. Actually. I do having something against Kagura. She ..... she slaughtered my entire family and clan." Sango confessed softly.  
  
"Sango – if you don't want to talk about this it's all-" Miroku interrupted quickly, looking deeply concerned.  
  
"It's fine. If I'm going to be working with Inuyasha and Kagome they deserve to know about me. You see, I come from a long line of demon bounty hunters. We have been notorious through out the demon community since the feudal era when demons ran rampant through out the lands. We have been defenders of humans for some time, but in more recent years we have formed alliances with the demons and only hunt those labeled as unlawful criminals. I've been trained as a hunter my whole life, just like my family and friends were."  
  
"Wow," Kagome breathed, impressed. No wonder Sango was so strong.  
  
"We were good at what we did, and I lived with my father and little brother in Tokyo for some time as a bounty hunter with my clan before deciding to be the first in my family to accept an invitation to join the demon section of the FBI. I was recruited by Kaede and greatly enjoyed being a part of the agency.  
  
"However, when Naraku first appeared on the scene with the shikon no tama, his first target was my clan. A group of such well known, powerful humans in the demon world was exactly his type of prey for the tainted shikon no tama...... and while I was off on a case, he sent his first henchman, Kagura the Wind Witch, to slaughter the entire Demon Bounty Hunter clan. They didn't stand a chance under a surprise attack by a hoard of Naraku's demons led by Kagura. They had never encountered anything like Kagura before, and by the time I got word they were under attack, my entire family had been killed by Kagura. There were no survivors from my clan."  
  
The entire room fell silent at Sango's story, shocked and at a loss for words. Even Miroku and Kaede, who had been there for this part of Sango's life, seemed extremely uncomfortable.  
  
"Oh God, I'm sorry....." Kagome whispered hesitantly, now very sorry she had brought the subject up. Sango threw her a weak smile and shook her head.  
  
"It's all right. Or at least, it will be when I have my revenge. After that day I left the FBI and dedicated my life only to hunting Naraku, usually through Kagura. She has been stationed in Kyoto for some time now, which was where I was, constantly waging battles with her. But she is very cunning, and always has Naraku's personal hoard of demons for backup. It's .... been a long few years." the strong woman admitted, leaning back in her chair. "Of course, now that she is back in Tokyo, apparently with Naraku, I am perfectly willing to lend the FBI my services once more in their new attempt to finally destroy Naraku."  
  
"And we appreciate the help very much." Kaede said firmly, smiling warmly at Sango. "This case has been no piece of cake for us, even with our new miko on the team."  
  
"Yes, I heard you were the new miko in town. They say you've only come into your powers this past week? You've been fairing very well for a rookie." Sango said, her tone not particularly condescending, nor very complimentary.  
  
"Yes well, I try." Kagome said. "But, I would really like to thank you for saving me earlier today. You were amazing!" she added enthusiastically. So enthusiastically that the usually straight faced Sango seemed to blush a bit, hiding the beginnings of a smile with her hand.  
  
"Oh, it was nothing at all." she said simply.  
  
"Well, whatever it was, it will certainly be of great use to us. I'm sure we'll make much progress with Sango here to help us now." Miroku said confidently. Sango didn't spare him a glance at this statement, and Kagome took note of it.  
  
"I'm sure we will too. Now I have with me your new assignments, Sango and Miroku since you are now partners I have your first potential victim to guard. Kagome and Inuyasha, you get tomorrow off to recuperate and then I have a new assignment for you as well." Kaede said in her professional tone, whipping out a pair of thick folders.  
  
"We won't continue guarding the wolf compound?" Kagome asked curiously.  
  
"No, I don't believe so." Kaede said, passing out the new assignments to the four assembled agents.  
  
"Well, THAT'S good news." Inuyasha huffed not so quietly under his breath. Kagome shot him a withering glare.  
  
"And what do you have against the wolves?" she asked skeptically.  
  
"Nothing, just the fact that their leader is a pompous idiot." he huffed.  
  
"Really? I thought he was sort of sweet,"  
  
"FEH!"  
  
"What? He tried to defend me against Kagura!" Kagome argued defiantly.  
  
"Well so did I!" Inuyasha replied sharply.  
  
"Children! Enough." Kaede barked in a tone that immediately ended the brief spat. Kagome was brought back to reality and instantly felt ashamed for being part of a petty squabble so soon after hearing Sango's horrible story. She lowered her head and tried to stay silent, merely peeking at Sango once. However, the look on Sango's face wasn't one of disgust or anger...... it was of amusement. It was the first happy sort of look Kagome had seen grace the bounty hunter's features since meeting her. It made her look almost beautiful.  
  
"Now, the reason I don't feel it will be necessary to guard the wolf clan again just yet, is because now that Naraku knows we've got their mansion covered, and one of his strongest agents, Kagura, has been efficiently beaten by us there, he most likely won't attack the compound again so soon. You would be put to better use guarding other potential victims who are seemingly defenseless at the present. Although it might not be a bad idea to send you back to Kouga's place in a few weeks time, just for a checkup." Kaede explained to the partners, who nodded in understanding.  
  
"We are to be guarding Mr. Myouga then?" Miroku asked, drawing Kagome's attention back to the young monk as he flipped through his first potential victim file. "How exciting! I've heard so much about him in demon circles. He's supposed to be a genius scholar!"  
  
"Mr. Myouga! That old flea? I had him for ancient history in college!" Inuyasha grunted disdainfully.  
  
"Really? How lucky for you." Miroku commented.  
  
"Not really. He's just about as boring as they come, and his course was fucking impossible to pass." Inuyasha admitted.  
  
"You went to college? I had no idea!" Kagome stated.  
  
"What? Did you think I was some ignorant fool? Of course I went to college! You're going to college, aren't you?" Inuyasha pointed out, narrowing his eyes. Kagome realized how deprecating her statement had really sounded, and immediately tried to make amends.  
  
"No, I didn't mean it that way! I just didn't know if, you know, DEMONS in general went to university, or -"  
  
"Oh, so now you're insulting my entire RACE?"  
  
"Not at all! Listen! -"  
  
"Inuyasha, Kagome!" Kaede snapped once more, looking quite peeved now. This time around, Sango nearly all out laughed.  
  
"Sorry," Kagome sighed, while Inuyasha scowled deeply and looked away. Kagome frowned at him. Why was he being so touchy? Was Kouga really getting to him that much? Or was it something else? It was impossible to tell with the clearly bipolar hanyou.  
  
"Well, I have nothing else to say presently," Kaede admitted, rubbing her temples. "Except to warn everyone to be extra careful, as usual. Naraku isn't above targeting agents when they're not on the job, that we've already come to learn."  
  
"Right," Inuyasha agreed, glancing briefly at Kagome who was following the small white demon cat over to Sango, as the older woman made to leave the conference room.  
  
"Sango, wait up!" Kagome called, jogging down the hall after the demon bounty hunter.  
  
"Yes, what is it?" she asked, turning around to face Kagome. Finally having her alone, Kagome came to the abrupt realization that she had nothing of real importance to say to the cold looking woman.  
  
"Uh, well, I just wanted to say thank you again....." Kagome started, awkwardly.  
  
"Think nothing of it, it's my job,"  
  
"And also to say that, well, your cat is very cute!" Kagome added dumbly, feeling like a complete fool, but determined to somehow have a conversation with Sango. There was something about the woman that drew Kagome to her. She had an odd aura about her, that spoke of many different layers.  
  
"Kirara?" Sango asked as the cat youkai in question jumped into her arms and began to purr once more. "But you've already met her, earlier today."  
  
"I have?" Kagome asked, trying to remember if she had seen the tiny demon with Sango earlier. "I don't think so....."  
  
"Oh, well, she's a little hard to recognize in her other form." Sango explained. "She was the large cat demon I was riding, the one with the tail made of fire,"  
  
"WHAT? No way! Kirara's so small! It's impossible for her to look like that big demon!" Kagome argued. Sango was chuckling now, and stroking Kirara slowly.  
  
"Yes, it's a bit surprising, but that's her true form. She's a neko demon after all....."  
  
"Right, I guess I'm still not used to this whole demon world idea," Kagome sighed, looking at the cute kitten in a whole new light. S  
  
"Well, considering you've only been a part of it for a week, I guess we can forgive you." Sango said, throwing Kagome a friendly look. "I've got to head out now, I'll see you around, I'm sure."  
  
"Wait!" Kagome called as Sango started to leave once more. The woman stopped and glanced at Kagome expectantly. "Well, I know we've just met, and you've got work to do tomorrow, but..... I was thinking, if it's all right with you, would you like to.... I don't know. See a movie or go shopping or something sometime?" Sango didn't really seem like the type of girl who appreciated a nice day at the mall or a good sappy romance movie, but Kagome just didn't know how else to have a good time with another girl around her age. She had never met anyone like Sango before.  
  
For her part, Sango tried not to look to surprised at the odd request. "Um, sure, I guess." she said amicably. "That would be nice."  
  
"Great! I'll get your number from Kaede then, and call you this weekend or something!" Kagome gushed, waving at Sango as the woman finally disappeared around the corner, demon cat, boomerang and all.  
  
"Well, aren't you just the social butterfly." Inuyasha said, coming out of the shadows to stand near Kagome.  
  
"Aren't I though?" she replied cheerfully. "Say, do you want to head back ho- to my place?" Kagome said, correcting herself before she said 'home', after realizing that her apartment wasn't actually, in fact, Inuyasha's true home. Although as the days went by it sure felt like it to her ..... "I feel like I haven't seen Shippou in forever, and I don't want to miss him getting dropped off at the apartment. I know he would never say so, but I don't think he likes being there alone so much."  
  
"Right, his pride wouldn't stand for it," Inuyasha cackled.  
  
"You're one to talk." Kagome said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Inuyasha squawked.  
  
"Oh nothing. Say, where's Miroku? Maybe we can invite him over for a movie night or something," Kagome suggested, never once thinking that perhaps it wasn't very customary for fellow agents to have sleep overs and movie nights together.  
  
"Actually, I don't know where he is. Where did that pervert go, anyway?" Inuyasha asked, glancing around but finding nothing. Even the monk's scent was stale. "Oh well......"  
  
"Perhaps another time," Kagome sighed as she and Inuyasha headed towards the parking garage, both bone tired and ready to be back at the apartment. They would have lots to tell Shippou that night, in any case, if their combined colorful array of bruises and gashes were any proof of that.

YYY

"Sango, wait!" Miroku called after the demon bounty hunter just

as she moved to open the door of her black Range Rover. She sighed and turned to face the monk after being stopped on her way out for what felt like the umpteenth time that evening.  
  
"Yes," she asked, her tone curt. Miroku tried not to flinch at her indifferent expression and posture, but found it alarmingly hard to hide his hurt.  
  
"I just wanted a moment to talk to you," he explained, attempting to look casual. "We haven't really had any time to talk since you got back, what with all of the excitement. I was wondering, if you weren't busy tonight, it might be a good idea to catch up on things before our first mission together tomorrow."  
  
"Actually...... I am a bit busy...... tonight." she said, looking away.  
  
"Really," Miroku sighed, looking clearly disappointed, and not totally sure if it was because Sango was busy, or because she was so bad at lying about being busy.  
  
"Sorry," she murmured, shrugging. "There's nothing to talk about anyway, I'd wager. Not too much exciting going on in my life, as you can imagine. And unless you feel you need to tell me about the various girlfriend's you've accumulated in the years we've been apart-"  
  
"Hey!" Miroku said, indignant.  
  
"-then I doubt there's much for you to say either. No need to spend the next couple of hours dancing around awkward topics." she finished shortly.  
  
"That's unfair, Sango." Miroku said harshly, looking uncharacteristically stung.  
  
"Life's unfair," she pointed out, throwing her boomerang into the trunk and then stepping into her car, while Kirara hopped onto the passenger's seat. "I don't know what you think can be said Miroku, but I'm not one of those silly girls you can seduce with your charming ways." Sango reminded him cooly, taking out her keys.  
  
"I know that." Miroku sighed. "Trust me, I know that."  
  
"Then I guess we've come to an understanding," she said curtly, slamming the door shut and starting the ignition.  
  
"Not nearly." Miroku murmured darkly to himself, watching the car swiftly pull out of the garage with emotive purple eyes that followed it out onto the street yearningly.

YYY

"Yahtzee!" Kagome crowed cheerfully, throwing her arms up into the air and doing a little victory dance while trying very hard not to aggravate her various cuts and bruises.  
  
"Feh, this game sucks anyway." Inuyasha grumbled, throwing the pair of dice to the side.  
  
"Wow Inuyasha, you lost even worse than I did!" Shippou pointed out, glancing over slyly at Inuyasha's score pad.  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
Shortly after coming back to Kagome's tiny apartment and being reunited with a typically joyful Shippou, both Kagome and Inuyasha filled the small kit in on the days activities. Shippou loved to hear about the duos exploits in the FBI, seeing as how he was never allowed to go on missions with them, and was an enthusiastic listener, which seemed to make Inuyasha happy.  
  
Kagome had made a dinner of microwavable pad thai, and the gang had eaten their food while playing a game of Yahtzee that the young miko had easily won. The atmosphere was light hearted and cheerful, and Inuyasha had, to Kagome's sharp eyes, let all of his usual tough guy barriers down. For although he was putting up his usual pouty display after loosing the game, his face looked as open and vulnerable as she had ever seen it. To say it warmed her heart was an understatement.  
  
"So, when do I get to meet Sango?" Shippou wanted to know as Kagome cleaned up the game, and Inuyasha gathered up the dishes to bring to the kitchen. It had become customary for those who didn't make the dinner to clean up the mess afterwards.  
  
"Oh, well, I sort of invited her out for a day on the town sometime this weekend, so maybe you'd like to come with us Shippou?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Yeah!" Shippou cried enthusiastically, eager at the thought of actually spending a day in the city with his new favorite person and the ultra cool sounding demon bounty hunter woman.  
  
"You know, I was wondering Inuyasha ....." Kagome said as she came to sit on a stool by the kitchen while the hanyou and Shippou attended to the dishes, Inuyasha washing and Shippou drying, sometimes with his puffy tail.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, arching an eyebrow and flicking his dog ears towards his partner.  
  
"Well when I brought up Sango and Miroku maybe having a romantic past earlier at Kouga's mansion, you didn't want to talk about it. But today when I saw them together they looked so tense, and Miroku was unusually stony..... it was odd. Do you really know something about them?" she asked, unable to contain her girlish curiosity.  
  
"Well....." Inuyasha sighed, greatly disliking gossip, but figuring that it would be all right to tell Kagome considering Miroku and Sango were doing a pretty shabby job of hiding their awkwardness anyway. "Like I said, I don't know that much because I was never around to see them together. But I did join the team right after Sango left, and Miroku was definitely a different person those first few months after her leaving."  
  
"You mean she dumped him?" Shippou asked flatly.  
  
"Sort of," Inuyasha admitted. "I know for a fact that they had been together for some time before I joined the agency, and apparently they had been pretty happy as well. I know that at least Miroku was deeply in love with her. But after Sango's family was slaughtered, apparently she became a completely different person. She was all about the job and killing Naraku became an obsession. She even left the agency so she could more fully dedicate herself to hunting Kagura."  
  
"Intense," Shippou commented, while Kagome nodded in agreement. Inuyasha began to put away the dishes as he continued talking, and Kagome joined in to help, since Shippou was too small to be of much aid.  
  
"Miroku was still really intent on continuing their relationship after the tragedy with her family, but after Sango left the city it became almost impossible. She didn't return his calls, didn't reply to his e-mails, and he wrote her about a thousand love letters but she never wrote back. After a while he accepted defeat and merely kept tabs on her and her doings in Kyoto, but realized she just wasn't at a point in her life where she wanted to be with him." Inuyasha explained. Kagome raised an eyebrow; apparently Inuyasha DID know a lot about this particular relationship. She wondered just how often Miroku lamented about it.  
  
"I bet he thought her coming back might mean there was a chance for them again." Kagome sighed sadly, traveling over to the couch. Inuyasha went with her, and Shippou jumped into her lap where he snuggled there contentedly.  
  
"Yeah, I'd have to agree. The way he's always talked about her, it doesn't sound like he's ever recovered from her dismissal of him. He may come off as a perverted playboy, but he always gets this really tender look in his eyes whenever he talks about her." Inuyasha said, looking rather uncomfortable with discussing Miroku's love life.  
  
"The way she's acting, I bet she's not making this easy for him. Whenever I look at her I get this sad feeling in the pit of my stomach. She just has this gloomy feel about her..... I'm sure Miroku's feeling it too. How depressing," Kagome sighed, finding the sob story entirely romantic anyway.  
  
"In any case, she's a damn good fighter from what I've seen. She'll be good to have on the team." Inuyasha said.  
  
"Right, and who knows, maybe she'll warm up to Miroku again!" Kagome added hopefully.  
  
"Yeah sure." Inuyasha shrugged, obviously indifferent.  
  
"Oh don't be so unromantic Inuyasha," Kagome teased, tapping him on the nose. Inuyasha blushed a bit a she turned away and stood up with Shippou in her arms. "You ready for sleep Shippou?"  
  
"N-no....." Shippou yawned.  
  
"Right. Inuyasha, help me open up the bed," Kagome sighed, motioning for Inuyasha to get off the couch and help her convert it into a queen sized bed.  
  
"Sure thing," Inuyasha said, standing up, and wondering distantly how even so small a thing as a tap on the nose from Kagome sent him flying into a dizzying world of confusing emotions. He nearly stopped breathing when Kagome stood right next to him and put her hand over his while they opened up the bed. What was wrong with him?  
  
"Goodnight Shippou. See you tomorrow morning.... we have all day off, so we'll do something fun, okay?" She said softly, smiling at the little kit. Shippou smiled back as Kagome leaned over and kissed him goodnight on the cheek as always. Inuyasha never took his eyes off her once. For some reason, nights at Kagome's apartment always felt extremely intimate.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll be off to bed as well," Kagome said, turning to Inuyasha and wishing she could kiss HIM goodnight as easily as she could Shippou. But she didn't have nearly enough guts for that.  
  
"I might watch T.V for a bit," Inuayasha admitted.  
  
"Just make sure it doesn't wake up Shippou," Kagome said, waving goodnight as she headed off to her room.  
  
"Right," Inuyasha sighed, turning away and collapsing onto a nearby chair, trying to keep himself from following Kagome into her room and spending the night there wrapped in her wonderful scent and warm aura, instead of out on the pull out bed with Shippou. "Right."

YYY

Author's Notes:  
  
You thought I was never going to update, did you? Well, HA! Ha to you. Hope no one thinks I made Sango into too much of a bitch, but she's been on her own for a while so we'll have to forgive her for the time being. I've got lots more Kagome/ Inuyasha fluff on the way...... I wouldn't hold your breath for Miroku and Sango though. Sesshomaru is scheduled to make an appearance sometime in the near future, as well as Rin. (Hint hint, they're my favorite IY couple.) Anyway, have a lovely rest of the summer, seeing as how I doubt you'll get another update from me before it's over.  
  
xoxo  
  
Rio Grande.  
  
P.S – next chapter "Things You Never Knew You Never Knew."  
  
- Also, I just read Inuyasha #18 – Oh my god! I was almost crying! That whole scene with Kikyo and Inuyasha and Kagome was just devastating! On top of reading Paradise Kiss #5 I almost had a breakdown. 


	10. Things You Never Knew You Never Knew

Hey all! Thanks for the encouraging reviews, I'm glad you guys hung on! Only 5-6 chapters left now... but they're going to be pretty crazy, if my outline is correct. 

One thing – in this chapter I go into the tetsusaiga's origins and powers a bit, and here the sword does not work the same way it does in the show. Just so you all know I'm not terribly confused, or anything.

I don't own Inuyasha, and enjoy!

YYY

**Bitten**

By Rio Grande

Chapter 10: Things You Never Knew You Never Knew.

YYY

Kagome never realized just how long her hair had grown until she was forced to pull a comb through it, and experience the pain of ripping through her thick rat's nest of a mane. Still, last time she checked, she was certain her hair wasn't four inches past her shoulders. Sighing, she put her comb by the sink next to a pathetic makeup collection, a collection that consisted of, basically, lip gloss and concealer. Some of which she had owned since high school, and all of which Keiko had forced her to purchase. Probably Kagome was a little behind in the area of cosmetic application, but she had just never found that makeup made her look any prettier. Kagome experimented with placing her hair up in a high pony tail to keep it away from her face, frowning and turning her head from side to side.

'No. Too 90's,' she reflected, letting the hair drop unceremoniously around her shoulders again, and twirling one dark raven strand around her finger distractedly.

"Inuyasha?" she called, exiting her small bathroom and stepping directly into the living room of her humble apartment, where said hanyou and Shippou sat sprawled on the couch. Both were totally dressed for the cold day outside and each was sporting the look of a man who had been ready to go for some time, but had been forced to wait for one slow female. "Do you think my hair's getting too long?"

Inuyasha raised a lazy, incredulous eyebrow at his partner, grabbing a random lock of his white tresses which happened to hang all the way down to his butt, not even feeling the need to voice an answer to that obviously misguided question.

"Oh. Right. Anyway, sorry for making you guys wait! I'll be ready in a second!" she chirped, disappearing once more behind the bathroom door. At this, Inuyasha groaned into his hands and Shippou shook his head, moaning: "But that's what she said an hour ago!"

"Women." Inuyasha added dourly.

Elated over the fact that she and Inuyasha finally had a day off, Kagome had planned a fun outing for the small motley group. An outing that involved eating lots of greasy fast food, movies, shopping, bowling and many other utterly mortal things that Inuyasha and Shippou had never done in their entire lives. The whole idea seemed crazy, but Kagome was determined to make this day devastatingly fun, and Inuyasha and Shippou had no choice but to go along with her.

The door bell rang and Inuyasha unthinkingly got to his feet to answer it, hearing the sink running in the bathroom and not wanting to bother Kagome when she was doing... well, whatever it was she was doing in there.

"Who is it?" he asked belatedly as he undid the locks and swung open the portal.

"It's your mother!" Mrs. Higurashi answered cheerily in reply, just as Inuyasha opened the door all the way and came face to face with the thin, middle aged woman. She was about the same height as Kagome, with cropped black hair and an oval face. She wore a purple cardigan and a long black skirt, a pink canvas bag tucked under her arm. "Oh! Oh my. You're not Kagome!" she pointed out, putting a hand to her face

"Gyah...!" Inuyasha agreed, freezing and letting a look of panic come over him. Quickly he spun around, trying to hide Shippou with his body as he desperately motioned for the little Kistune to create a disguise – any disguise! Any disguise that didn't make him look like a yellow eyed, pawed and tailed demon baby. There was a none too discrete puff of smoke behind the tall hanyou as he slowly turned back to Kagome's mother, smiling a bit too widely while Shippou hurriedly did his thing in the background.

Luckily for Inuyasha, he had long ago acquired a spell that enabled him to appear mortal to all those who were either non-demon, or didn't posses the magical sight, meaning he never needed a costume. This obviously did not apply to Kagome or Shippou, but Inuyasha had previously explained this phenomenon to his female partner who had possessed a magical eye herself for so long (Even before her powers had been fully awakened by the FBI a little over a week ago, via some sedatives and a syringe.) she had never even realized Inuyasha had such a spell upon him. Mrs. Higurashi, on the other hand, saw nothing but a raven haired, violet eyed young man when she looked at Inuyasha now.

However, looking like a demon to the woman suddenly didn't seem as important as looking like a male, as Mrs. Higurashi got a very curious look in her eye.

"Who... are you?" she asked in a carefully pitched voice. She was obviously not accustomed to finding odd men with long hair at her daughter's door when she came to visit, even unannounced as she was now.

"I am... Inuyasha," Inuyasha replied, out of a lack of a better thing to say. He had never encountered a situation like this before, and had no idea what to do.

"And I'm Shippou!" a young, human boy with sparkling green eyes and short red hair added almost a bit too cheerily, hopping in front of Inuyasha and right into Mrs. Higurashi's arms. The woman seemed surprised, but she took her skeptical eye off of Inuyasha none the less.

"Oh! My! I've heard about you! But no one said you were so cute!" Mrs. Higurashi gushed, tapping Shippou on the nose and giggling. Inuyasha let out a relieved breath, glad to have avoided that confrontation.

"Well, aren't you going to invite me in, Inuyasha?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, addressing the hanyou.

"Uh, yeah, right..." Inuyasha said, stepping to the side and realizing by the steely glint in Mrs. Higurashi's eyes that perhaps the confrontation wasn't over yet at all... merely postponed by the presence of an innocent, bubbly little boy. Inuyasha had never been so happy to have Shippou around.

When Kagome finally exited the bathroom, dressed, powdered, washed and brushed, she came upon the sight of her mother sitting on the couch with a human looking Shippou in her lap and Inuyasha at her side, chatting her partner up with a huge grin on her face. She resisted the urge to walk right back into the bathroom and never come out, but knew she couldn't leave Inuyasha in a situation like that. Probably. Well... if she backed away quietly...

"Kagome!" Her mother crooned, noticing her daughter and holding out a hand, gesturing expectantly for Kagome to come forward. "There you are! We were waiting. Come, come sit!"

"H-hey mom..." Kagome greeted pleasantly, slowly drifting towards the couch and sitting hesitantly to the left of her mother.

'Oh shit,' the miko thought, panicked. 'I never told her about Inuyasha. How am I supposed to explain about Inuyasha? She was NEVER supposed to find out about Inuyasha!'

"So, Shippou here tells me Inuyasha has been living with you for a few days now, hm?" Ms. Higurashi said, her tone revealing nothing. Kagome shot a discreet, withering glare at her little charge, and he shrank away in fear.

"Yes. He has. He's... well, he's a co-worker, from the FBI." she said, deciding she could at least divulge that sliver of truthful information.

"Oh really, and are you a secretary like Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi wanted to know.

"No, I'm a field agent," Inuyasha announced before he could stop himself. Kagome slapped her forehead. Why couldn't he just lie? Why couldn't he have just swallowed his masculine pride and pretended to be a secretary? Not all male secretaries were gay! Not all of them!

"I see, and you and my Kagome have been living together for three days, after just meeting? My, but you move fast." Mrs. Higurashi chuckled, and even though her tone was amicable enough, both Inuyasha and Kagome knew what she really meant – 'Oh, and you've already decided to start sleeping with my innocent daughter, you man-slut?'

"Mom! It's a bit more... complicated." Kagome quickly interjected, wishing more than ever that her mother didn't have a penance for dropping by unexpectedly. It truly caused more trouble than she knew what to do with. 'Of course, if you were a normal daughter, you wouldn't have to worry about the visits because you wouldn't have two demons to hide!' she added bitterly.

"Complicated?" Mrs. Higurashi questioned, her tone suggesting that she didn't like the adjective of choice here. 'Complicated' suggested there had been 'complications' when they were having sex and now her daughter was pregnant and it had been too 'complex' a situation for Kagome to move to Inuyasha's apartment so he had decided to live with her until the baby was born.

"You see, Inuyasha is friends with Shippou. He's... his uncle, actually," Kagome quickly explained.

"Really?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, looking between Inuyasha and Shippou and trying to find a family resemblance. Noticing none, she cooly continued onwards with her uncharacteristic interrogation. Kagome had never seen her mother like this. "Then why isn't Shippou living with his uncle Inuyasha instead of with you?" she asked.

"Well, see, Shippou's mother doesn't trust Inuyasha," Kagome stated, immediately wishing she hadn't.

"What!" Inuyasha barked, indignant.

"What?" Mrs. Higurashi questioned, sharply.

"What," Shippou added, caving in to peer pressure.

"I mean to say that – Inuyasha works odd hours, and doesn't have time for Shippou! Shippou's mom doesn't trust that Inuyasha can always be there for him! Heck, this is the first day off Inuyasha has had in weeks. He's just been sleeping over occasionally to make Shippou feel better while his mom is getting the operation! You know, a familiar face," Kagome said quickly, the lies coming easier now that she was on a roll.

"Oh. I see," Mrs. Higurashi said with a smile, looking for all the world as though she did. "Well, that's fine then."

Both Inuyasha and Kagome let out simultaneous breaths of relief, trading tired glances. 'That was close.'

"Yes, they both sleep out here on the pull-out couch. As oppose to in my room. With me." Kagome continued, just to make things clear.

"That's nice. Well, I just stopped by for a quick visit. You hadn't called since winter break started and I was worried," Mrs. Higurashi explained, stroking Shippou's head gently as she spoke and causing the little Kistune to acquire an expression closely related to the look a heroin addict gets when he finally gets a fix after weeks of agonizing withdrawal.

"Sorry about that," Kagome said sheepishly. She had been so wrapped up with important FBI stuff, she truly had forgotten about her family. And her friends.

"Well, it's all right. But I was wondering if you had plans for vacation? I know last year you and Kiki went to that lovely ski resort for a week..."

"Oh, no. No plans like that this year," Kagome laughed uneasily, averting her gaze. That had been fun...

"I see. In that case, up to spending a little time with your old Mom? I thought we might like a day out together!" she explained, beaming expectantly.

"Actually I had sort of planned a day with the guys here," Kagome admitted.

"We're going to see a movie!" Shippou, who had never seen a movie in an actual theater, crowed.

"Do you mind if I come? I haven't been to a movie in some time," Mrs. Higurashi said.

"That's fine. It'll be fun! Right guys?" Kagome asked, casting a wary glance at Inuyasha to try and gauge his reaction. He merely shrugged noncommittally, looking neither ecstatic nor disappointed.

"Sure," was all he said.

"Great! I'll call Souta then and we can all head out! Any idea what movie you want to see?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, placing Shippou to the side as she stood to go get the phone.

"Oh Mom, do we have to call Souta?" Kagome whined. She loved her brother for the most part, but lately, since he had hit his teen years, he had been nothing but a pest.

"Souta?" Inuyasha and Shippou asked.

"Her brother!" Mrs. Higurashi supplied from across the room, which was, admittedly, not that far away. "And he's going to come with us! The two of you haven't hung out in ages! Just be glad I'm not inviting grandpa."

"Geez," Kagome sighed, resting her face in her hands and sighing. "This is turning out to be one hell of a day."

OOOOOO

Miroku felt as though he had just stepped into an alternate reality. There were so many things wrong with the situation he found himself in... just so many layers of inherent... wrongness.

Exhaling loudly he ran a hand through his dark brown hair, making a valiant attempt to not let his gaze slide over to the attractive looking woman sitting in the passenger's seat next to him. And to not let her know just how goddamn nervous he was.

Sango, for her part, didn't look at all perturbed. She was just there with her usual impeccable posture, using one hand to lazily stroke her demon cat Kirara in her lap while she gazed out the window calmly, watching the scenery fly by from her seat in Miroku's red Mercedes. She was wearing a light purple dress and had her dark hair down around her shoulders, making her look altogether graceful and at peace. But Miroku knew better. The second danger made an appearance, off would come the dress, up would go the hair, and she would be clad in her black, I-mean-buisness-outfit complete with a long knife strapped to her hip. However, this wasn't what was making Miroku nervous, and confused. In fact, all that was far too normal.

Perhaps that was just it. It was all so NORMAL! He and Sango. Together. In a car. Off on a mission. It was just like the old days, only this time he had not lain eyes on Sango for three years, she was no longer an official member of the demon FBI ... and they were no longer dating... in fact, they were no longer speaking. Sango had said naught but one word to him since they had taken off on their mission that morning, and it had been a dispassionate,'S'ok', in response to Miroku's frantic apology when he almost tripped over himself and onto her whilst being distracted by her rather shapely butt on the way to the car.

'If you told me three years ago that today I would be sitting in a car with Sango, with absolutely nothing to say to her, and she with a practically palpable distaste for my very being... I would have called you crazy,' Miroku reflected wistfully as he turned off of the freeway and drove into the beginnings of a rather upscale neighborhood, complete with grand old mansions, huge lawns and spotless streets. 'I could always talk to Sango, for as long as I can remember she was always there to listen to my ramblings, no matter how inane. And now, I feel as though... '

"I think that's it," Sango said abruptly, her voice snapping Miroku out of his thoughts so violently he quickly slammed on the breaks in the middle of the street. Luckily there were no other cars around, but Sango and Kirara were roughly jarred forward by the quick stop, and both females sent the dashing FBI agent withering glares.

"Uh, sorry!" Miroku apologized for the second time that day. He was starting to wonder if it was such a good idea for Kaede to put the two of them together again as partners... Sure, there was definite proof that in a fight no one worked together better than they did, but he seemed to be a little distracted by Sango's mere presence. "So, this is it?" he asked, to avert Sango's attention from his odd behavior.

Sango sighed and glanced down at the folder in her hands, checking the address on the paper with that of the large, pale blue mansion across the street. The entire house was pushed into shadow by the forest of thick green trees twisting around it like a protective barrier.

"Yes," she affirmed distractedly, undoing her seat belt and swiftly stepping out of the car with Kirara perched primly on her shoulder. Miroku took in one deep breath before following suit.

Both agents were dressed to look like every day civilians, perhaps dignified guests at their potential victim's house. Miroku himself was wearing a pair of khaki's with a dark green button down shirt, and brown loafers. Stashed away on their persons and in their seemingly innocent hand bags and briefcases was a literal arsenal of weapons, Sango's huge boomerang being forced to remain in the trunk. Together they began to walk up the long twisting path to the shadowy door of the mansion, not saying a word or making any eye contact whatsoever the entire time.

Once at the door Sango promptly wrapped on the wooden frame and stood back to wait to be let in. Miroku stood in silence for a moment before suddenly turning to his partner with an elated grin on his face. Sango shrunk away from him, as though intimidated by the sheer width of his grin, which was a sharp contrast to the tight lipped frown she had taken to sporting.

"Hey – we're about to meet THE professor Myouga! That's exciting," Miroku pointed out with an honestly optimistic look on his features. Sango was about to explain that she was not familiar with Professor Myouga's actual teachings when the door swung open abruptly. They hadn't even heard anyone walking towards them.

At first Miroku was confused because it seemed as though there was no one at the door at all, but after a moment of staring into the musty darkness of the inside of the grand house, he heard someone clear their throat and his head snapped downwards.

"Ahem, I'm down here," an old, nasally voice said importantly.

"Oh, hello," said Miroku intelligently, finding to his surprise that the voice came from an impossibly small old man with an odd, wrinkled face and wide round eyes. He was also emanating a demonic aura.

"It's nice to see you, Mr. Kyouzaki." Sango said respectfully, bowing her head as one acquaintance might to another.

"The pleasure is mine," the small man rejoined.

"Wait a second – Kyouzaki? Myoga Kyouzaki? THE Myoga Kyouzaki?" Miroku asked, momentarily shocked.

"The one and only!" Myoga chirped proudly.

"But you're so... .short!" Miroku squawked, looking slightly appalled. This was his scholarly hero? A two foot ball of wrinkles?

For her part, Sango looked as though Miroku and just urinated on a mosaic of the virgin Mary in a 15th century church, mentally slapping her face. Hadn't he read the file? Didn't he know Myouga was a flea demon?

"What of it?" Myouga asked sharply, confirming Sango's worst fears. Usually, the shorter you were, the more sensitive you were about your height. Or in this case, a severe lack thereof. Miroku was having one of his foot in mouth moments – rare but deadly. "You're no giant yourself, sonny," Miroku blinked owlishly, before letting a large smile spread over his features once more. He leaned down and lifted a surprised flea demon professor up effortlessly, stepping through the threshold and into Myouga's lovely home.

"I have so many questions for you! This is going to be great!" Miroku enthused as he disappeared into the house. Sango was left alone on the porch, looking a bit confused.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" she asked Kirara, while also stepping into the house and locking the door behind her quietly. The small cat demon shook her head negatively, and Sango sighed while her lips turned upward at the corners almost against her will.

OOOOOOOO

"So do you like, take down real bad guys like the FBI agents in the movies do?"

"Sure."

"Do you have lots of cool weapons? Kagome doesn't have lots of cool weapons... but she's not a field agent like you, she's just a dumb secretary, so you must have lots of cool weapons."

"Yep. See my digital watch? If I press the reset button it actually detonates a bomb planted under a yakuza base, just in case they get out of hand and we need to teach them a lesson."

"Awesome! And your car – is it like, bullet proof? Is it a hummer or something?"

"Psh – yeah."

"SWEET!"

To Kagome's relief, Inuyasha seemed to be getting along with her younger brother fabulously. The thirteen year old upstart greatly appealed to Inuyasha's sense of masculine pride since Souta was all but dedicating a new religion to the hanyou now that he knew he was an actual FBI field agent, and hadn't stopped pelting him with dumb questions. If Shippou hadn't been so very distracted by the wonderful attention Mrs. Higurashi was giving him he might have decided that Souta was cramping his style, but as it was he was content to sit in Kagome's mothers arms and let her fuss with his adorable hair. Meanwhile, Kagome and her mother were chatting.

"It's nice that you're getting paid regularly now." Mrs. Higurashi pointed out.

"Yeah, it's really helping me get a jump start on those loans I took out for college," Kagome admitted. "Oh, and this is so cool - now I have my own health insurance plan!"

"I should say so..." Mrs. Higurashi mumbled. Kagome had experienced a hell of a time explaining away the various cuts and scrapes she had developed, attempting to assure her mother that it had nothing at all to do with FBI work, but unable to explain how else she could have ended up so bruised.

"I had an accident at the gym," Had been the first thing to come to mind.

"What? Did the treadmill scratch you? Look at these scrapes..."

"No, I fell down the stair... master."

It hadn't gone over so smoothly and, coupled with Inuyasha's abrupt appearance in her home, Kagome wasn't racking up the trust points very well.

'So what!' part of Kagome argued vehemently. 'I'm a big girl now! Twenty years old and I should be able to do what I want without her permission – even if what I want to do is get ripped to shreds by bloodthirsty demons. It's my choice.' Another part of her was trembling with unbridled shame. How could she lie so badly to her mother? They had always been very close, especially since Kagome's father's death, and she felt as though she as betraying one of her closest friends.

"How's gramps?" she asked, to steer the subject firmly away from her own health.

"He's fine. The doctors say he needs to be using his breathing machine more, but, you know how he is about that. The man thinks he's still a spring chicken," Mrs. Higurashi sighed with exasperation.

"Ha ha, yeah that sounds like Gramps to me..."

"Oh, here we are. Are you excited Shippou?" Mrs. Higurashi asked of the tiny kit disguised as a tiny human in her arms. The group had stopped in front of a cinema near Kagome's apartment. It was small and your feet tended to stick to the popcorn and soda encrusted floors when you sat down, but it would do.

"Yeah! This is my first movie!" Shippou crowed. Mrs. Higurashi found this hard to believe, but was happy for the boy anyway.

"What are we seeing?" asked Souta.

"Well... I wanted to see the new romantic comedy, but since the males now outnumber the females, I've conceded to go see the new Jackie Chan flick," Kagome sighed dramatically.

"Yes!" Inuyasha and Sota cheered in unison, while Shippou cocked his head in confusion.

The quintet shuffled into the theater, Kagome's mother treating everyone, even Inuyasha to whom she dealt a saccharine sweet smile that made his eye twitch oddly. When the lights went down and the sparsely filled room went quiet, Kagome found herself sandwiched between Shippou and Inuyasha, which forced her to listen to Inuyasha's snorts of disdain and comments of how he could do that, easy, as well as Shippou's numerous ohh's and ahh's of wonder.

However, as she looked down the row of seats at her family and friends all enjoying a totally normal movie together, she felt happiness of a breed she hadn't experienced in a while what with the strains of her new lifestyle settle warmly in her stomach. It purred happily and left a dumb grin plastered on her face for the entirety of the (B level, at best.) movie.

OOOOOOO

Back at professor Myouga's house, Sango found herself in a finely decorated sitting room serving tea to the small flea demon and Miroku, who were engaged in such an in depth conversation about the professor's studies that neither had so much as given Sango a second glance in nearly an hour. So far she had been able to gauge that Myouga was a professor of ancient studies at a demon university in Tokyo – but beyond that she was lost.

'This wasn't exactly what I thought I'd be doing when Kaede said she had dire need of me in Tokyo,' Sango thought as she delicately sipped her jasmine tea, Kirara sitting obediently in her lap and eyeing Myouga with no small degree of fascination. The man was truly peculiar, slightly resembling a pale walnut with little tufts of gray hair behind his miniature ears, and a dark brown suit tailored for a three year old.

"- and that's when I met Katsu Takahashi, Inuyasha's father." Myouga said, picking up his own cup of tea.

"You knew Inuyasha's father?" Sango asked, finally finding a tidbit of the conversation she could understand. Inuyasha's old man had been a very powerful political figure in the demon district of Tokyo, which was partially why Inuyasha's brother Sesshomaru was such the business tycoon now. It didn't, however, explain why Sesshomaru was such a complete ass-hole. Mr. Takahashi had married a human woman for God's sake, and he had been a kind man as well, loved by the people. Even Sango, who was not very familiar with Inuyasha himself, new this as a participating member of the demon community. She thought perhaps her own grandfather had met the great demon once.

"Oh yes. I was, well, his best friend and advisor back in the day," Myouga said with no small degree of pride. "Katsu was a great man."

Sango was slightly surprised by this information, but she could tell by a quick glance at Miroku's face that he was not. He had that carefully neutral expression on on that she was so familiar with. Not only had he already known that Myouga and Inuyasha's father had been good friends, he had been waiting for this information to come up.

'What's he doing?...' she wondered, lost.

"Yes, I had heard that you were the man Mr. Takahashi confided in when he was defending the Tokyo territory from the Panther Demon tribe," Miroku said.

"Yes, indeed I was. Unfortunately, those damn panthers just came back after poor Katsu died and tormented his eldest, Sesshomaru, for a time..."

"Well, that's in the past now. Sesshomaru taught them who was boss long ago. But, then, you were also around when Mr. Takahashi had those two infamous swords forged, weren't you?" Miroku pressed in a friendly tone.

"That I was. Why do you ask?" Myouga queried, confused by the switch in topics.

"Well, I actually have an interest in the weapons, or specifically the Tetsusaiga. I do work with Inuyasha now, you know..."

"Ah, of course," Myouga said, nodding in understanding and sitting back in his chair with his steaming cup of tea in hand. He took on a very sage look that Sango decided just made him seem queer. "Is that pup still having difficulties with the blade?"

"Yes..."

"I figured as much," Myouga chortled mockingly. "If he would just swallow his pride and come talk to ME about it he'd be in much better shape, but Inuyasha has never had the confidence in me his father had for some reason..." Myouga trailed off almost angrily.

"Yes, I had heard that you two were not on good terms," Miroku said delicately.

"That hot-headed yahoo thinks that I was disloyal to him in his youth after his mother died. Calls me a 'fair-weather friend'! Wouldn't even look at me when he took my course in college, even though I gave him As! Of all the nerve. If he knew just how faithfully I have served his family..." Myouga grumbled. Sango looked interested in finding out what would make Inuyasha feel this way about the current college professor, but Miroku began to speak again before she had a proper chance.

"Well, you know, as of late the Tetsuaiga has been doing some interesting things. In the past week, in fact, it has fully transformed on two occasions," he admitted.

"What! Really? Has he figured out its secrets then?" Myouga questioned.

"...Not so much," Miroku confessed with a smile.

"How can that be, if he's transformed it?" Sango asked, cocking her head. She was admittedly a bit uninformed about the Tetsusaiga, although she had heard the legend of the powerful blade Mr. Takahashi had forged, as well as its sibling, the Tensaiga that Sesshomaru owned.

"Well, he can only seem to do it when the battles he's in take a turn for the very worst, and not on actual command," Miroku elucidated. "It's progress, but not something he can really understand."

"I see... so Inuyasha is experiencing the correct conditions under which he can utilize the blade properly, but not comprehending just what those conditions are," Myouga mumbled to himself. "How amusing,"

"Well, just what are those conditions?" Miroku asked, point blank.

"I see... so you have come for information for your friend have you? Well, that's fine, it's about time Inuyasha lived up to his heritage. Now, granted, this is just from what Inuyasha's father told me, the full secrets of the Tetsusaiga can only be found with its creator, who has retreated to the mountains of China or some other such nonsense. But Katsu had these two swords created after he met Iyazoi, Inuyasha's mortal mother.

"It was around this time that he became an advocate for human activism, and was especially worried about the welfare of his human wife who was prone to ridicule and violence from the demon community. In the same vein, he wanted his hanyou son to respect human life as well when he came of age."

"How does this connect with the sword?" Miroku asked, unable to see where Myouga was going with this blurb about Mr. Takahashi's political policies.

"I'm getting there," Myouga snapped. It is a well known fact that professors love to talk, and do not take kindly to being interrupted. "As I was saying... Katsu worried about humans. So when he had this sword forged, this Tetsusaiga that could slay a hundred demons in one swing, a sword that would not only keep his hanyou son safe when he was not around to protect him, but would also enable his son to protect his mother, he needed for the power of the sword to be properly channeled. It could do great harm if just anyone could use it, for whatever reasons, even his own child. For he knew that one day Inuyasha would grow to be a very powerful demon.

"So when it was forged, the sword was given triggers. For instance, the trigger to transform it depends on the heart of the wielder,"

"The heart of the wielder? So you mean... Inuyasha has a bad heart?" Sango asked, frowning.

"No, no. Well, I don't think so anyway. What the sword looks for is the heart's reason for fighting. If Inuyasha were fighting just to slay, just to destroy another demon,or even just to practice, it would not transform. Only if he is using it to protect, specifically humans, specifically humans he cares for, would it work. The sword is that powerful, it was Inuyasha's father's wish to give it such strict rules so that it could not be used lightly, nor fall into the wrong hands and be used to cause mass chaos. This isn't the feudal era we're living in after all!"

"Of course," Sango agreed.

But now Miroku was grinning from ear to ear, resting his head on his fist and chuckling lightly. "Humans he cares for, eh?" he said.

"What's so funny?" Sango asked.

"It's just that, the only times the sword has transformed in this past week has been when he's protecting Kagome..."

"Oh," Sango said, her eyes widening in understanding. She too smiled a tiny bit.

"Just who is Kagome?" Myouga wanted to know.

"The FBI's newest miko... she's a little green, but she's got a helluvalot of power." Miroku said.

"Oh, and does Inuyasha have relations with her? Following in his father's footsteps?" Myouga questioned slyly.

"Well, I hadn't been sure he felt anything for her YET... but now..." Miroku explained. "Oh, this is going to make him so mad!" he cackled evilly.

"I think it's nice," Sango said with a shrug.

"And you don't know Inuyasha very well," Miroku quipped in return.

OOOOOO

Kagome pushed herself further into her grandfather's recliner, watching the amusing scene in front of her with a wry smile. She was currently lounging in the living room of her mother's home, at the Higurashi Shrine, observing her younger brother, Shippou and one full grown FBI agent twiddle their fingers madly while leaning forward with an intense look in their eyes as they made it to another level of Sota's favorite game, Dynasty Warriors. Apparently, neither Shippou nor Inuyasha had ever played a video game in their lives, and now they were enjoying playing almost as much as Sota had enjoyed beating them solidly the first few rounds. However, both demons were fast learners and now Sota appeared to be the one who was having to fend for himself against some particularly brutal onslaughts.

So far the day hadn't been as bad as Kagome had though it was going to be. The surprise additions of her mother and brother hadn't completely ruined the outing, and although there had been some close calls where her mother almost found out more than she should have about Kagome's new life, (At one point, during a quick ice cream pit stop after the film, Inuyasha had thoughtlessly mentioned he and Kagome's upcoming mission. 'Mission? What mission?' Mrs. Higurashi had questioned. 'Oh! My... important mission to staples! We're out of printer paper at the office and it's like, a big problem.' Kagome had replied brightly.) and once or twice Inuyasha and Shippou had come close to seeing just how embarrassingly odd her own family was (When she and Sota had fought to see who could press the button for the elevator in the movie theater, Kagome winning narrowly by gnawing on Sota's elbow until he was forced to retract his arm).

"YES!" Shippou crooned, as his player began to randomly spurt out fire balls that forced Sota and Inuyasha's characters to turn tail and run for cover, jerking painfully every time they were hit. "I LOVE that move!" Being such a young, small demon in real life, Shippou was relishing the opportunity to throw around more power than his idol, Inuyasha.

"You brat, stop doing that! You're going to waste all of your energy at this rate," Inuyasha snarled.

"What do you care? You're just jealous of me 'cause I keep frying your butt!" Shippou giggled maniacally.

"What! Why would I be jealous of you? Every time you pick that same dopey girl character with the mini skirt and the huge ass fans! How could I be jealous of that?"

"Yeah, what's up with always choosing that magical girl?" Sota asked seriously.

"Shut up!" Shippou explained.

In the background Kagome had happily curled up around a book that had been on the top of her extensive winter break reading list right up until she had been recruited to help assassinate a power hungry demon with a god complex, putting the tome aside only when her mother entered the living room with a grin on her face.

"Dinner time!" she announced.

"YEAH!" all of the boys cried, throwing down their equipment and leaping to their feet. In a matter of seconds it was as though they had never even been in the living room at all.

Dinner was a mildly scarring affair for Kagome, as Inuyasha was forced to see just how _mentally deranged_ her family truly was. Her grandfather was there now and talking non-stop, and combined with Sota's incessant questions and ill-timed interjections Kagome was afraid for Inuyasha's delicate grip on sanity. The young woman watched events unfold with a shell shocked expression on her face, like a witness to two oncoming trains charging full speed at each other, instilled with the terrible knowledge there was nothing she could do to save the life of the helpless passengers inside. She had been doing so well!

"So, you're Kagome's new boyfriend, eh?" Grandpa Higurashi asked flatly. All of the color was drained from Kagome's face as, contrastingly, much scarlet was added to Inuyasha's complexion.

"Uh – no. No, see, I'm her coworker," Inuyasha corrected him jerkily. Kagome was thankful that he had at least refrained from saying anything insulting about her in front of her grandfather, as she was sure he would have had anyone else posed that particularly uncomfortable question, seeing how Inuyasha was tactless and crass on his good days. 'What? Me and that useless wannabe agent? Feh, I like my women with a little common sense, thanks,' was how she imagined he would have replied, under normal circumstances.

If only the circumstances had been normal...

"You know, Kagome's last boyfriend was a lot more clean cut than you," the old man continued on, as though he had not so much as acknowledged Inuyasha's last, firm statement.

"Oh?" Inuyasha asked, with actual interest in his tone. Kagome began waving her arms wildly from behind Inuyasha's head, motioning for her grandfather to_ shut the hell up_, but he was suffering from cataracts and hardly noticed. Sota began to giggle uncontrollably into his soup. He loved watching Kagome get terribly embarrassed in front of her friends by his grandpa, it was one of his favorite hobbies. And it happened so frequently.

"Yes... what was his name again? Hobo?" Grandpa Higurashi asked, scrunching up his face as though he was diving deep into the recesses of his mind. Inuyasha made an expression like something was lodged in his throat, when really he was just repressing a particularly gleeful smile. Kagome had never told him about her love life, becoming flustered and angry when he questioned her about her marital status, and here he had the perfect opportunity to finally get a look into her romantic past.

"Hojo, father. He was only Kagome's friend since kindergarten," Mrs. Higurashi supplied with a sigh.

"Right! Well, anyway, he was nice boy! A model citizen! His hair wasn't half as long as yours,"

"What, you got something against long hair?" Inuyasha asked, tugging on his currently raven locks.

"It makes you look like some sort of punk!" Kagome's grandfather informed her partner smartly. Kagome sat frozen in her seat, her eyes distant.

"Feh," Inuyasha replied, folding his arms indolently. "Yeah, well at least I've got hair, unlike some people."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped.

"You little upstart!" her grandfather barked, which was funny, considering he was almost three feet shorter than the hanyou.

"What? It's true. Anyway, I bet this Hojo was a wimp, in any case," Inuyasha stated confidently. "Model citizen? Bah,"

"Whatever happened to him?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, tapping her chin. "You haven't brought him around the house in a long time, Kagome."

"I still hang out with him, we're still friends," Kagome said, regaining some of her composure.

"Gee Kagome, it's been ages since you've had a new boyfriend. It's like Hojo was the only guy who was ever interested in you," Sota pointed out innocently. Or not so innocently, since he was thirteen and new exactly what effect his statement would have on Kagome. He began to chortle loudly as Kagome jumped up from her seat and tried to crawl across the table to throttle her younger brother, murder in her eyes, only to be held back by a mildly amused looking Inuyasha.

"Careful, you'll ruin the food!" he warned.

"What do you know, Sota? You've never had a girlfriend in your life!" Kagome screamed. Why did he have to say that in front of Inuyasha? He probably thought she was some sort of prudish loser now.

"Have, too! I just don't tell you about them!" Sota argued.

"Yeah, well maybe I don't tell you about mine, either!" Kagome rejoined proudly.

"What, your girlfriends? Yeah, I bet you don't,"

Inuyasha snorted rice out of his nose at this, while Kagome attempted to bodily fling herself across the table again.

"I want more soup, please!" Shippou chirped sweetly, smiling up at Mrs. Higurashi.

"Of course, sweetie," she replied, patting his head, becoming selectively deaf to the carnage taking place at the other end of the table.

"Calm down, you crazy kids!" Grandpa Higurashi ordered, pelting his grandchildren with a succession of carrots.

OOOOOOOOO

"Sh, everyone be quiet," Sango ordered, slowly getting to her feet and peering around the large drawing room with narrowed gray eyes.

"What is it Sango?" Miroku asked. It was the first time he had addressed her in a long while – he and Professor Myoga had quickly fallen back into discussing properties of the Tetsusaiga Sango could not understand or bring herself to care about. But Kirara had gotten a nice tummy rub and Sango herself had indulged in Myoga's vast pantry of sweets while waiting for the two of them to calm down.

The operation had been a bit slow going so far, but now the demon hunter was sure she heard something. Like many twigs scratching the roof of Professor Myoga's house, two stories above the trio.

"I hear something... it's above us, possibly on the roof," she said aloud, mostly for Myoga's benefit. Miroku looked upwards and concentrated, before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, I hear it, too... I'll go check it out. You and Kirara stay with Myoga."

"W-what do you think it is?" Myoga asked tremulously, shrinking behind a now transformed Kirara.

"I don't know, it could just be a bunch of squirrels... but something tells me that's wishful thinking," Sango said, her highly tuned senses all but screaming now as Miroku dashed up the stairs two at a time, a pistol loaded with purified bullets appearing in his hand. From beneath her dress Sango produced a blade that gleamed dangerously in the light. Myoga spotted it and swallowed.

Having reached the third and final floor, Miroku pushed open a window and gracefully swung onto the slanted roof of Myoga's home. Stealthily he crawled along the shingled top of the house, his eyes peeled for signs danger. He didn't need to look too far, or for too long.

Curled around the brick chimney that sprouted out of Myoga's roof was the largest, most sinister looking centipede demon Miroku had ever seen. Her pale purple body and pearly white, mostly human torso were twitching as she scanned the premises for a target, listening carefully. She had two extra sets of arms and her centipede body appeared to be made of some sort of hardened shell. When she heard Miroku approach from behind her head quickly whipped around, ad Miroku was presented with her classically beautiful features and long raven hair, accompanied by lifeless black eyes and razor sharp fangs.

"Myoga...?" she questioned in a voice that echoed oddly in the agent's head. He centered himself so that he wouldn't accidentally slide off of the roof and raised his gun slowly.

"No such luck," he admitted with a smirk. A shot rang out and the demon cried as a bullet pierced through one of her arms, purifying it and making the appendage disintegrate before the demon's horrified eyes.

"Stupid mortal! You will pay!" she hissed, lashing her tail out so that it made to whip Miroku across the face. He ducked in time and then leapt over her so that he got another shot in her insect body. She screamed terribly once more and then threw herself at Miroku.

She caught the man with a set of arms, making as to bite him with her terribly disfigured mouth. Miroku, panicked now that his hand with the gun was trapped in her surprisingly powerful grip, head butted her. Stunned, she dropped him to the ground, and before he could regain his bearings she let her tail forcibly shove him off the roof, clutching her head and moaning.

"That hurt!" she accused, even as Miroku fell three flights.

"Ah!" he yelled, managing to cling onto a window sill of the second floor, dangling precariously. He looked up in fright, only to see the centipede demon smiling at him from over the edge. With the back of her body still firmly attached to the chimney, she began to slide down the side of the house with a wide grin on her features, her arms outstretched as she tried to grab Miroku. At the prospect of having her strangle him while he hung from he house Miroku let go of the ledge and let himself fall the rest of the way down to the ground.

"Oh my God!" Sango gasped, watching the form of Miroku fly by the window behind old Myoga's head. She frowned deeply and then abruptly turned on her heal, heading for the front door.

"Don't LEAVE me! I'm the one the demon is after!" Myoga called after the woman's retreating form.

"Guard him, Kirara," Sango called back by way of an answer.

Outside, Miroku had fallen in one piece, although he felt he could have landed more gracefully. Massaging his ankle he watched darkly as the centipede demon fully lowered herself onto the ground, moving with unpredictable speed as she caught sight of her pray.

"Die!" she hissed, clicking her teeth. Miroku resisted the urge to recoil in disgust, choosing to spin kick her under the chin instead and then watching happily as her head whipped back in pain.

Of course, his brief gloating period was cut short when the centipede demon's tail found its way around his torso, lifting Miroku off the ground and squeezing him quite hard. Miroku gasped in pain and felt for his gun once more, only to discover that, due to a reflexive motion his hand made when the demon nearly broke both his arms, he had let the pistol drop from his fingers. Frowning to himself, he tried to figure out a new way to wiggle out of his precarious situation, while watching the demon cackle at him from the corner of his eye.

"You're mine now – I don't even care if you're not the target. I want to see you squirm!" the she-demon proclaimed cruelly.

'Figures this is how I'd go... strangled to death by a raging woman.' Miroku thought to himself hollowly.

"Miroku, duck!" Sango's voice rang like a symphony of benevolent angels in Miroku's head, a head that was quickly turning a disturbing shade of blue. He obediently flattened himself along the centipede's body, feeling the tell tail rush of wind that was the Hiraikotsu's entourage, as the large boomerang slashed its way through the demon.

There were some desperate gurgles, accompanied by a few fleshy rips that Miroku was glad he could not see from his current position. He knew what sort of damage Sango's infamous weapon of choice was capable of, and he didn't need to watch to know that the demon bounty hunter had just defeated the centipede woman for him.

Sure enough, the tail that had been on the verge of squishing all of Miroku's internal organs into putty abruptly slackened and the agent was able to roll to the ground, regaining his bearings and then tenderly turning to regard Sango with as much dignity as possible. Behind him the centipede demon had unceremoniously collapsed in a tangle of many limbs, her torso slashed asunder, her blood red mouth open in one last, eternal scream.

Sango lifted her arm up, casually plucking her boomerang she had retrieved from the car out of mid hair with an easy flick of the wrist. She swung it around until it came to rest on her back, dangling from two fingers with an ease Miroku knew belied the true weight of the Hiraikotsu. They made eye contact for a minute, Sango's steely gray eyes briefly showing a flash of the deepest concern, while Miroku's violet orbs indulged in a bit of earnest adoration. As soon as the two agents realized what sort of looks the other was giving them, they quickly changed their tunes. Sango's expression turned cold, and indifferent, while Miroku's became honestly surprised, and perhaps a bit confused.

"Are you all right?" Sango asked in possibly the least interested voice possible.

"Oh, I'm fine," Miroku replied gaily. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just fell two stories and were nearly crushed by a demon," Sango explained.

"Oh, right, that," Miroku replied, nodding his head gravely. "Don't worry about it." Sango stared at him flatly, affording him a disbelieving sort of look Miroku was all too familiar with, before purposefully marching over to him and then lightly tapping him on the ribs with no further warning.

"JESUS! What are you trying to do, kill me!" Miroku wheezed as he furiously backed away, turning green. Sango merely raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine," Miroku sighed, lowering his head. "I suppose I may have cracked a rib or two..."

"Or three or four, you big dolt. You're out of shape," Sango accused, real worry and annoyance seeping through her indifferent facade.

"And you're incredibly in shape. You've improved since you've been away..." Miroku admitted openly. Sango's cheeks colored slightly and she looked to the side.

"Well, doing nothing but hunting demons for three years on your own will do that to a person," she confessed.

"All alone, really?" Miroku asked, compensating for the distance Sango had created by edging closer to her. She didn't seem to notice, too disturbed by the penetrating look in her partner's eyes. "There was no one else that whole while..?" he pressed, almost urgently.

"No... I ... didn't feel very sociable, for a very long time," she said softly, and Miroku felt that he was watching the barriers fully come down around Sango for the first time since she arrived back. In his excitement, he didn't think over his next few words as carefully as he should have.

"That's a relief, actually. For a while, after you left, I used to lay awake despairing over the idea that maybe there was someone else. Maybe you had left me for another man, using vengeance as an excuse to escape the city, and me..." he confessed, almost jokingly, although there was truth behind his words. Sango stared at him wordlessly for a beat.

"Wait. You thought that directly after experiencing my whole clan's murder I decided it would be an opportune moment to find myself another boyfriend, cheat on you, and then run away into the night with him? You honestly thought I could do that?" she asked, her tone a tad shrill. Miroku looked at her hands that had been clenched into fists at her sides, and mentally gulped. Damn. Him and his big mouth, sometimes...

"No – no of course I didn't really think that. I mean, it wasn't what I thought at first. It's just that, I was really upset... and all of these ideas started making more and more sense once I was left alone to stew for long enough and -" he explained desperately, his voice uncharacteristically frightened.

"Can it, Miroku," Sango said, cutting him off with a brisk flick of her ponytail as she turned on her heal. "We've got a potential victim inside who needs confirmation that his assassin has been taken care of. I don't have time for this," Watching her sashay off with no further adieu made Miroku's blood begin to boil. Honestly. He was getting a bit tired of these outbursts from Sango – it wasn't as though HE was the one who had stopped calling. HE had never left her, HE wasn't the one who broke up their perfectly healthy relationship! So why was she treating him like he had contracted leprosy in her extended absence?

"Wait!" he called after her, jogging forward and ignoring his injuries long enough to grasp her arm firmly.

"Don't, you'll aggravate your ribs-!" Sango started, unable to conceal her concern despite herself.

"There you go again, confusing me!" Miroku growled, running a hand through his hair, and brushing away some sweat that had started to form on his brow. His torso really was aching profusely, but he could ignore it forever if only she would give him a straight answer. "One second it's like you're back to yourself again, worrying about me and being the fantastic partner I know you are – and then the next second you're bipolar Betty, ready to tear my head off! What's wrong? What have I done?"

"I'm not bipolar," Sango argued with a frown, trying to pull her arm away halfheartedly.

"Yes! You are! Why?"

"W-what does it matter anyway?" Sango finally asked in a voice heavily tinged with grief. Her soprano wobbled as she spoke, and her confident expression collapsed in on itself momentarily. "What do you care if I don't like you anymore? It's not as though you could have expected things to just go back to normal when I came back!"

"Well, actually, yes, I sort of was expecting that - seeing as how I've done nothing but pine for you for the past few years," Miroku stated frankly. Sango looked momentarily taken a back, before she blinked the beginnings of tears away and forged onwards angrily, finally twisting her way out of her ex-boyfriend's needy grasp.

"Well it can't be like that! I'm not the same girl you used to love – too many things have changed. I've changed. When I look at you I don't see a lover, I see a cold memory that makes me think of my family, and everyone I care for who has died," she told him loudly, honestly. Too loudly, too honestly. It made Miroku's heart hurt to hear Sango say these things to him so harshly, but he knew from the undone look in her eye that this was how she honestly felt. This was what she hadn't wanted to show him.

"So unless you're in this for my body over my personality," she continued mercilessly.

"Of course not..." Miroku whispered.

" - Then just drop it. There's nothing here for you, Miroku," she confessed heatedly, gesturing to herself stiffly. "Nothing and no one. Sango is gone. Please, stop making this harder than it already is. I can hardly bear to be in the same city where I was raised with my family, I can't take you trying to bring the past to life for me as well,"

"So you never would have returned, had Kagura not decided to come back to her master?" Miroku asked, staring at his feet, his expression impossible for the severely frazzled Sango to read.

"Probably not. No,"

"I see..." he muttered as Sango turned and continued walking towards Myoga's house. She was furiously gnawing on her bottom lip, trying to regain her composure for the sake of the flea demon waiting inside, knowing full well that if she stopped she would hear Miroku's parting words and then there really would be no hope for her somewhat dry eyes.

"But you haven't changed Sango. The woman I love is still inside you somewhere, and I intend to draw her out, no matter how many times you tell me she's dead,"

OOOOOO

Perched atop a packing crate, Kagura let her fingers glide along the fine fabric of her fresh kimono, newly purchased after her last one had been soiled during a skirmish at the wolf clan's mansion. It was a deep purple that brought out the glow of her crimson eyes, and pouty lips. The wind witch seemed to vibrate color and energy, contrasting greatly against her gloomy surroundings. Tall ceilings, stripped walls, boarded up windows and a vast expanse of concrete floor, and boxes lined up everywhere.

This was why she had enjoyed her stint in Kyoto so much – Naraku had terrible taste in houses and he wasn't much for decorating. Kagura was a creature of comfort – pretty colors, comfortable beds and sheets, designer clothing.

'Not exactly the sorts of habits an acolyte of a supremely evil demon bent on taking over Japan should have...' she admitted, rolling her shoulders and listening to the ominous churning and gurgling sounds emanating from the large room, where demons discretely puttered about, working away. 'But it's not as though any of this was my choice...'

As Kagura thought of her wretched servitude to her master and creator, Naraku, said super demon approached her line of sight. Her back straightened and she sat at attention as he addressed her, his bottomless black eyes glinting even in the darkness.

"So, the Demon FBI proved to be too much for little Kagura to handle?" he asked, smirking up at the wind witch. Her eye twitched subtly, and she shook her head.

"There were many surprises I hadn't prepared myself for..." she explained. She had been avoiding this talk for days. Naraku, dressed in black slacks and a navy blue dress shirt, his wiry black hair a tumbled mass around his shoulders, leaned against a crate and waited to hear her explanation with deceptive patience.

"I was all right when it was just the Wolf prince, his lackeys and that green miko... but then I was interrupted by the half demon Inuyasha and his associates, Agent Miroku and the demon bounty hunter who has been trailing me for years..." she elucidated, pretending to look bored as she inspected her nails, while inside she was pulling at her hair and hoping that her punishment would be light.

"So? You've avoided Sango for a very long time, and Inuyasha is no competition against you, my creation..." Naraku purred, putting an emphasis on creation as though to remind Kagura once more just who she belonged to. Like she needed reminding.

"Well, ordinarily... but he was using that blade of his..."

"The Tetsusaiga?" Naraku's attention was piqued, and he stiffened slightly as he waited for Kagura to elaborate.

"Yes, I thought he was unable to use it... but it was fully transformed when he attacked me with the thing," she stated dryly. "I still have some scarring from it... I never have scars. And he ruined my best robes," she said this with a half pout, delicately peeling away a bit of fabric from her chest to observe the angry welt across her otherwise unblemished chest. Naraku merely raised an eyebrow, more concerned with the fact that the Tetsusaiga was now a factor in his war, and not Kagura's petty injuries and wardrobe dilemmas. Kimonos, why did she wear kimonos anyway?

"So, Inuyasha can finally use the Tetsusaiga... I'll have to see for myself just how well he wields it," Naraku murmured to himself.

"Oh, you can take it from me... he wields it just fine," Kagura chirped. Naraku ignored her, continuing to speak as though he was continuing an internal conversation, with Kagura as the unwilling audience.

"This is not a good development. We still need more pure blood for the shikon jewel... I still need more pure blood. The FBI is up to something, they've been popping up around too many targets too frequently. Just today the centipede woman was shot down at Myoga's house. Things are beginning to move quickly, and I can't afford mistakes like this..." he hissed, starting to pace agitatedly. Kagura winced, much as she really didn't care about Naraku's needs, the bastard had a tendency to make his problems, her problems.

"What are we going to do? Go out in full force? Lay siege to as many targets as possible with our current forces?" Kagura queried.

"No... I think it would be a better idea to get rid of some obstacles first. There are a few key players in this little game who have been standing out lately, and I'd say its time we got rid of them. After that the rest will be cake," Naraku explained darkly. Kagura nodded, instantly understanding who he was talking about.

"It's that miko – you don't like her," she said blandly. Naraku scowled, folding his arms across his muscled chest.

"It's not a matter of liking or not liking. A miko could be a very dangerous thing for us right now. Our plan depends on having anyone like her dead."

"But we've tried..." Kagura reminded him, thinking of Yura and the old spider demon. Those ones had been no push overs, and yet they had somehow been destroyed by the odd, very lucky girl.

"Then we'll just have to try harder, won't we?" Naraku said, a broad smile stretching out across his pasty face. Naraku's features were so pale his lips seemed to almost blend into his features sometimes, a trait Kagura found particularly unattractive and reminiscent of a dead person.

"You have a plan," she stated for him.

"Perhaps. Your elder sister hasn't been seeing a lot of action lately..."

OOOOOO

By the time Kagome was finally able to extract herself and her party from the Higurashi shrine it was past eleven. The downside to this was that she was utterly exhausted and could hardly keep her eyes open driving home, but the perk was that she got to watch Inuyasha carry a practically comatose Shippou everywhere, which was too adorable for words.

Once inside her apartment, Kagome quickly drew down the sheets to Shippou's pull out bed, making room for Inuyasha to gently lay the young demon down. Shippou wrinkled his nose at the loss of contact, before Kagome drew the covers over him once more and he made a little contented murmur before rolling onto his stomach and beginning to softly snore. Kagome stood over him for a minute, a compulsive smile tugging at her lips. Her maternal instincts were being stretched to the maximum, and she had the sudden urge to lay by Shippou and stroke his curly hair all night.

Shaking her head, she turned away and found her partner at the kitchen counter, indulging in a bag of potato chips with a bored expression on his features. Kagome shook her head wryly and approached him.

"Eating again? Didn't you just have a full meal and desert?" she pointed out as she hopped onto a stool next to him, keeping her voice low for Shippou's benefit.

"So what? A hanyou like myself can eat much more than a puny human. Besides, it wasn't as though I was doing a lot of eating at dinner tonight. I was too busy laughing," he admitted with a cruel smirk. "What was the name of your ex again? Hobo?" Kagome scowled darkly as Inuyasha cackled at her, smacking his shoulder with what she deemed as quite a bit of force, and Inuyasha registered as a light tap.

"Shut up. I can't help it that my family's crazy!" she griped.

"Your family? Don't leave yourself out of this, babe. You're just as wacko as the rest of them,"

"Oh, God, it wasn't that bad was it?" Kagome asked, real worry seeping onto her features. "I know my family's a little... odd ball-ish. But... it wasn't _so_ horrible, yes?" Reacting to the bald-faced worry on her face, Inuyasha soberly put down the bag of chips and quickly thought up something placating to say. He hadn't realized that Kagome had actually been concerned about his opinion. Deep down he really didn't like to upset the girl at all, and yet he had a terrible tendency to do so. But he didn't want to make her feel bad about this.

"I didn't mean anything like that ..." he started out, awkwardly. "I mean, I've never really been around a real family like that before. It was... interesting. A group of people with not much in common except for the fact that you all love each other unconditionally. It was... really cool," he admitted so softly Kagome thought she must have misheard him. Inuyasha was actually saying something unbelievably sweet. Whoa.

"Geez, now you're making us sound like we're the perfect family or something," Kagome laughed almost awkwardly, unprepared for the abrupt turnaround in her hypothesis of how Inuyasha viewed her and her relations. To cut through the tension now lingering between herself and the silver haired man she popped a potato chip into her mouth and began crunching away loudly before posing another question. "What about your family though? I mean, you had parents too, even if they're not alive any more... and a brother, Sesshomaru,"

"Kagome, you've seen Sesshomaru. You know he is evil," Inuyasha stated flatly.

"Okay, yes, maybe so... but was he always like that?" she asked, unable to believe that even the cold hearted Sesshomaru could have been as inherently callous as he was now when he was a child.

"Yes," Inuyasha replied in a matter of fact way. "He was much older by the time I was born, and already had all of the prejudices of humans that demons of his rank often harbor working against me. Especially considering my mother replaced his as our father's wife,"

"Wait... he was older? But he looks so young now... how old is he really?" Kagome asked, trying to wipe away Inuyasha's uncharacteristically down trodden look with some lighter banter, while still picking up as much information as she could without scaring him away.

"Kagome, I've told you. Demons don't age the same way humans do. Sesshomaru is a couple centuries old..."

"...Oh, right. Well, I guess you'll be aging pretty well yourself!" she pointed out gaily.

"Yeah, lucky me," he sighed, as though suddenly the prospect of living for practically forever was quite an unappealing idea indeed. Kagome watched him cautiously, twiddling her thumbs and wondering what to do to get him out of his funk. She was sure he was in no mood to go lay down with Shippou on the pullout bed. She herself wasn't particularly tired anymore, even though it was getting to be quite late, and she and Inuyasha had God-knows-what to do early tomorrow. At times like this, there was only one thing to do in order to obtain unconsciousness.

"Hey, do you want to watch some T.V?" Kagome asked abruptly. Inuyasha raised a dark eyebrow.

"Won't it wake up Shippou?" he asked, although the concept obviously sat well with him. He didn't want to spend his time brooding about depressing topics almost as much as Kagome didn't want to watch him brood.

"Not if we watch in my room we won't," she explained, getting up and taking him by the hand. "Come on – we'll watch the discovery channel or something and go right to sleep. We need all of our rest tonight,"

"In ... your room?" Inuyasha repeated, just to make sure he was hearing things correctly. Kagome nodded shortly, turning her head away as she led Inuyasha to her door before she lost her nerve. She had never intended to bring him in here, it felt like a very taboo thing to do with your partner... but... it all seemed really right just then.

"Yeah, I mean, we're only watching some television."

"Okay," Inuyasha replied easily, a small smile forming on his face as he stepped into Kagome's room for the first time since he had all but wrenched her out of bed that first night, dragging her along on a dangerous mission to the demon run apartment where they had met Shippou, and Naraku...

Kagome's bed was queen sized, and adorned in light yellow sheets with pouffy white pillows Inuyasha fantasized about resting his head on. The air smelled vaguely of girly perfume and something else entirely Kagome. There were pictures covering her walls of friends and family, most of them happy ones with many people smiling, waving and giving 'V' signs. Inuyasha felt automatically relaxed the second he entered the small space, plopping down onto her bed while Kagome herself went to switch on her T.V that looked as though it had been purchased some time during the late eighties.

It was as though he had been wrapped in a protective blanket made of all things Kagome, his finely tuned senses singing happily to themselves when she took a seat next to him, glancing at the hanyou shyly while a deep voice on the television droned on about the migrating patterns of Canadian geese. He felt so lackadaisical in fact, that he might have fallen asleep then and there had the prospect of staying awake with one very nervous looking Kagome not seemed quite so appealing.

So instead he casually wrapped an arm around the smaller woman, resting against her headboard and pulling her form closer to his, ignoring the three inches of designated space Kagome had originally given them. Without a care for her personal bubble he nudged her so that her head fell against his chest, stroking her hair lightly to relax her when he felt her form go stiff against him. He had never done anything like this before, never dared to be so tender with anyone, but with Kagome it seemed as though she deserved nothing less.

For her part Kagome was struggling to keep her blush from taking over her entire body, shocked beyond words that Inuyasha would be so caring with her. She had always thought... always assumed... that any affection or attraction she may have felt was purely one sided because the hanyou was far too insensitive to ever really ... do ... anything...

And when he began stroking her long raven locks it became very hard to think of anything at all, and her eyelids gained at least ten pounds. As she began to drift off, the glowing television screen becoming darker and darker, she swore she felt Inuyasha gather her body closer to his until he was practically embracing her, his breath steady against her cheek. Kagome would have said something, but he smelled nice and she honestly didn't mind being coddled, at all.

They drifted off this way, Inuyasha wrapping his strong arms around Kagome's entire form so that she was cradled close to him, nuzzling her face into his neck while he relished the feel of her pressed up against him – feeling her curves for the first time when they weren't in some sort of life threatening situation.

Neither stopped to consider the utter improbability, saneness, or reason behind their actions. It was as though this was the most natural thing they had ever done, and everything else had just been a pretense for the benefit of those around them and the sake of going through the motions. This was where they were supposed to be, all along.

OOOOOOOOO

Author's Notes:

It's occurred to me that considering how long I took to update, this was a poor choice in chapter to make you all wait for. Nothing really exciting happens... it was just sort of a necessary chapter to develop character relationships and thicken the plot. I guess the bit of fluff at the end was nice... I mean, finally, right?

Anyway, if I have any say at all in it there will be at least one more chapter coming out before the end of August. I've been trying really hard to push through any writer's block and just freaking write, because there are still lots of cool parts I want to get to, and I would even love to finish this monster. It's just that I wrote out the whole outline and it was so scary and daunting, I think it stunned me into paralysis.

Thank you everyone for sticking with me, especially those who came around for seconds and thirds in the reviewing department. It really honestly helped. I know I have no right asking for more reviews, considering everyone who is reading this chapter has probably earned this installment ten times over - but hell, I want them anyway.

This chapter was really long, so I hope that compensated for its lack of action. You'll all hear from me again soon, with any luck, but have a great summer until then.

Xoxo

Rio Grande.


	11. Exploding Hearts

Hey all! Thanks for reviewing – I told you I would do it! Your compliments and words of encouragement made me want to write this chapter. I don't own Inuyasha, please enjoy and review! 

One note on continuity – in the beginning I had an identity crisis with Miroku. I kept saying he was a priest, and then a monk, and then nothing at all... well, as of now he's a reformed monk. Forget priest, that's just weird.

OOOO

**Bitten**

By Rio Grande

Chapter Eleven: Exploding Hearts

OOOO

TWO WEEKS AFTER CHAPTER TEN

OOOO

There was a loud slamming sound as Inuyasha enthusiastically kicked open the door to the large office just beyond the demon detaining cells, the office that had been especially set up to meet the needs of Naraku's investigation team. The hanyou confidently strutted into the room, glowing slightly with a chipper smile on his handsome features. He was sporting a pair of lose fitting slacks, a red button down shirt and his favorite, long leather jacket.

Behind him, a much more frazzled, morose looking Kagome slowly slunk into the office, her raven hair a tangled mess, her tight fitting denim jeans ripped at the shin, and her yellow cardigan smudged with unseemly dirt. Her expression was hollow and defeated and she quickly collapsed into a chair at the long conference table, shutting her eyes and resting her head on the cool surface presented to her. Inuyasha came to stand next to her, placing his hands proudly on his hips.

"I take it the mission went well?" Kaede asked dryly, from her position at the end of the long table where she was huddled over a stack of papers, an amused looking Miroku at her side. It seemed as though perhaps they had been in the room for a very long period of time.

"Another acolyte of Naraku – dusted!" Inuyasha enthused, confirming Kaede's guess.

"Are you all right Kagome?" Miroku asked kindly as he watched the young woman begin to drift off right in front of the assembled group.

"Oh... I'm good..." she croaked. "There've just been... a lot of ... assignments lately."

"Puny human – this is nothing!" Inuyasha snorted, looking at Kagome with no small degree of disdain.

"Nothing? This was our third potential victim in two and a half days!" she reminded him.

"And we saved each one, isn't that great?"

"Yes! Wonderful! But now I need some sleep!"

"Well, I am afraid that, while you have the rest of today off, tomorrow morning there is another assignment in store for you," Kaede admitted, leafing through a folder absently as she spoke.

"Oh God... I haven't had a day off in forever!" Kagome moaned piteously, while Inuyasha appeared slightly excited by the news. If there was one thing he enjoyed, it was kicking some Naraku ass – and if he couldn't get to Naraku personally, his little henchmen would have to do.

Ever since Kaede had started dolling out potential victims to agents, the flow of work had been virtually nonstop. While some seasoned professionals at the FBI might have been able to deal with this sort of stressful workload easily (a.ka Inuyasha.), other agents found the experience harrowing, to put it lightly (a.k.a Kagome).

Just this morning they had defeated a large monster calling himself the 'Peach Man', who had been sent after an old, powerful monk. Inuyasha had nearly been run through by the gluttonous demon's fist, and underneath his jacket his arm was severely sprained and slightly swollen. Although it had been hard for Kagome to see her partner tossed about like that, the past two weeks had taught her that Inuyasha's injuries would be a thing of the past by that evening. Not that it meant she couldn't dote on him a little bit until then.

However, the potential victim program that Kaede had concocted had been, all around, a great success. About 90 of all of the victims the FBI agents were assigned to who ended up being attacked were effectively protected and saved, and Inuyasha and Kagome personally had yet to lose a 'client'. Of course, this didn't account for victims the FBI hadn't thought to assign agents to, who were picked out by Naraku with no defenses at all – still, it was undeniable to see that the FBI was making a great dent in Naraku's plans for more tainted blood. He was becoming much more frequent and desperate with his attacks on innocents, and the percentage of blood he was receiving was substantially lower than what it had been a few weeks ago, thanks to the agency.

So the morale of the agents was up, even if, two weeks later, they had yet to actually catch the super villain. But pressure from the demon and connected human community was mounting as people began to notice that something was off in the natural order of the demon world. Naraku had been on the lose for too long, so now everyone was pulling twice their weight to speed up the incarceration process. Kagome wouldn't be surprised if Kaede and Miroku had been up all night reviewing Naraku's files, searching for clues for how to defeat him, and discover his whereabouts.

Glancing around the room, Kagome realized that someone was missing, and it wasn't Shippou, who was currently hanging around the cafeteria with some female agents who had officially dubbed him the 'most adorable and perfect little baby in the world.'

"Where's Sango?" the young miko asked before Inuyasha could launch into a story about he and Kagome's daring escapade that day.

"She's out, looking into a lead we received about a Kagura sighting," Miroku explained quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly.

"Another one?" Inuyasha asked, quirking an eyebrow. "She'll drive herself crazy if she keeps following every single tip she gets. They never pan out,"

"It's what she's been doing for three years..." Miroku explained with a heavy shrug of his shoulders. "Above her priority to the agency, Sango needs to avenge her family..."

"Conflict of interests," Inuyasha spat needlessly.

"Not really," Kaede pointed out. "We find Kagura, we are undoubtedly led to Naraku,"

"Yeah I still don't get that... did Naraku actually give birth to Kagura, or what?" Kagome asked, as she grabbed a random pile of files and started flipping through them herself. She paused when she came across a slew of particularly stomach churning pictures. These were of a few high ranking demons that had been murdered some months ago by Naraku himself, and the pictures were of their remains in their loft in downtown Tokyo.

One of the pictures gave Kagome a perfect view of a female demon with her jugular bared, a silent scream eternally etched onto her face, and, most disturbingly, a raw bite mark standing out profoundly against the skin of her collar bone. Naraku's trademark. She shuddered and put the file aside.

"Well, we don't have any actual proof of Kagura's origins since we've never had her in for questioning," Miroku explained, leaning back in his chair and lacing his hands across his middle. "Although we're fairly certain that he never gave birth to her by any conventional means. More likely he created her in a very real sense – formed her with some sort of dark magic."

"That's bizarre," Kagome stated. "It sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick. How would he get the power to do that?"

"The shikon jewel," Kaede said derisively. "It all comes back to that damned jewel."

Kagome furrowed her brow, rolling over an idea in her mind.

The shikon jewel had become a point of interest for Kagome as of late, seeing as how she has been recruited to the FBI merely to act as a purifier for the terribly tainted talisman, were they ever to actually get a hold of the thing. The files on the jewel were vague and the writers were obviously frustrated about the lack of information that had been provided for them, but Kagome was able to get the general gist of the jewels origins and history. Shikon jewel – really powerful. Capable of great good when in the right hands, capable of all consuming, mind boggling evil when in the wrong hands.

Reading descriptions of what the jewel was rumored to do when it gave an evil entity all of its power made Kagome turn pale with fear, and wonder just how she was supposed to pull off cleansing the jewel. Sure, she had been regularly practicing refining her miko powers with Miroku and Kaede for the past two weeks of her winter vacation when she had off time, and had admittedly become a much better priestess for it.

She could call her purifying powers to help in her battle, giving bullets she shot an extra punch, and sometimes her pure aura even physically repelled demons who would try to harm her – but she still had a long way to go. At times she felt she could be more of a wild variable than any sort of dependable help in the field, which also made her feel extremely guilty as Inuyasha's only partner now. However, realizing what sort of a job she had ahead of her made Kagome that much more determined to master her miko abilities.

Historically, the files on the shikon jewel had been much more informative. Although the origins of the jewel were not absolutely clear since it had been formed long ago, during the earlier years of the Feudal Era, it was surmised that it was originally created by a very powerful miko of the time named Midoriko. The jewel was fabled to actually be her soul, crystalized after she was felled in battle by an uncountable amount of demons. And while this sort of tale was very interesting to Kagome, what happened to the jewel as it was handed down until the present day was much more gripping to her, personally.

Although Sango had failed to mention it, after living with a succession of monks and otherwise holy and incorruptible people throughout Japan, the jewel had eventually landed in the possession of the fabled demon bounty hunters – Sango's kin. It had remained with them until one day almost four years ago when, in a terrible turn of events, the entire community was brutally slaughtered. The next time the jewel was seen it was already in the possession of one criminal mastermind – Naraku.

Now, this part of the story had all seemed relatively clean cut to Kagome. The demon exterminators had the jewel in their possession, so Naraku had sent Kagura to steal it from them, viscously murdering the whole village in the process. But... if Naraku had only gained the power to create Kagura AFTER he got the jewel, how had Kagura been around to steal it? Did that mean that the exterminators lost the jewel, and then were killed? Why had they ever let go of it, in the first place?

"Something on your mind?" Miroku asked Kagome, nudging her gently as he noticed that the woman seemed lost in deep thought. Across the table Inuyasha and Kaede were deeply involved in discussing the details of tomorrow's mission, something Kagome was far too willing to let her partner do alone because she simply found that sort of work dead boring. Hearing Miroku's voice pierce through her thick web of thoughts, she blinked and then shook her head after an extended pause.

"No... it's nothing," she replied airily, deciding she'd rather just ask Sango about it herself later than bring up a topic that might lead to a lengthy discussion when she was so damned tired.

As of late, Kagome and Sango's relationship, a bond that had been tentative at first, had blossomed into what looked to be a lasting friendship. At first Sango had been wary of Kagome's amicable advances and invitations for shopping and girl's nights out, to the point of extreme awkwardness. However, Kagome's perseveringly cheery nature and inherent kindness had opened Sango's heart up to the small girl. Sango could no more deny Kagome a chick flick movie night than she could kick a wildly affectionate kitten in the gut. And besides, why would she want to?

The woman had had virtually no friends for a very long time due to her all consuming vow to avenge her family's deaths, and now, finally, she was starting to relax and appreciate the fact that, while her relations may all be gone, she was alive and had the right to enjoy her own existence, just a bit.

Of course, this didn't mean Sango was ready to accept all of the luxuries that came with being a fully operating, healthy woman. She was still not prepared to involve herself in any romantic entanglements, especially ones that had ties to her painful past. So, her hesitant partnership with Miroku was still on the rocks every other day. Especially since it was more than obvious that Miroku would not be entirely satisfied with merely regaining a normal friendship with his ex-lover.

Shouting matches between the sexually and emotionally repressed couple had become background music for the FBI offices. Of course, due to Kagome's friendship and more exposure to the monk gone agent, Sango was getting better every day. It might not have been much, but for every time she didn't stomp off in a huff when Miroku attempted to edge closer to her seat at a status report meeting, the duo got that much closer to reconciling their differences.

For her part, Kagome thought Sango was wonderful. Sure, the girl didn't have the best sense of humor and wasn't really wise on the latest in pop culture, but she was smart and she was sensitive. Kagome valued these attributes in a friend greatly, and had thus dubbed Sango her new best friend at the FBI - a title which secretly irked Inuyasha, and at the same time made the hanyou what other title he could now run for at the loss of 'best friend'.

However, although Kagome was gaining a surplus of friends, her romantic life was still something of a running gag. She hadn't seen Hojo in some time, or any of her other friends for that matter, but the devoted blond still called her occasionally, sounding particularly distraught over the fact that she had no time for him now with her new job, and was in fact living with another man. (Kagome's mother had wasted no time in telling everyone Kagome even distantly knew of her new living situation, so the miko had received no shortage of embarrassingly curious calls from Keiko and Kiki on the matter. Mainly they wanted to know why she hadn't told them sooner, if she was screwing him, and, if not, could they get a piece of the action because her mother had said Inuyasha was _hot_.)

Of course, Kagome was NOT screwing Inuyasha, even a little, but at the same time she certainly didn't approve of letting Keiko or Kiki get to him, either. In fact, so defensive was Kagome of her admittedly dashing partner that the girl had yet to even introduce the agent to her two best friends. When she considered the fact that she was so insecure about her relationship with Inuyasha/so protective of him she wouldn't even allow another pair of relatively attractive females near him, she got all sick feeling inside and wanted to bang her head against a wall. To avoid this, she usually just made up semi-valid sounding excuses as to why that night was a bad night for she, Inuyasha and her gal pals to go out for dinner.

It wasn't as though she had even laid anything vaguely resembling a claim on Inuyasha. If anyone were to randomly walk up to her and accuse her of desiring the half dog demon in a sexual sense, she probably would have slapped them across the face and vehemently denied the notion. But no amount of heated denials could hide the fact that there WAS indeed sexual tension between Inuyasha and Kagome. Practically anybody could see it if they cared to look. Even Kagome herself.

Shy glances were shared often, unnecessary touches and caresses were even more common. Even though they were partners on the job and shared living quarters, they spent an unnecessary amount their days together outside of the allotted time they absolutely needed to be with each other. Inuyasha was always on the young miko's mind no matter what she was doing, much to her chagrin, and she had a feeling it was the same for Inuyasha because every time they were apart for more than a few hours he would come looking for her, seeming mildly distressed. All of this was incredibly adorable to Kagome, naturally, but at the same time unsettling. What did this mean for them? Exactly where was their relationship going?

And then of course there was Inuyasha's rather obvious reaction to the wolf prince, Kouga. Ever since the escapade at the wolf tribe's compound, the full blooded youkai had dubbed Kagome a 'fiery mortal temptress worthy of his heart', and called Kagome's cell phone incessantly, leaving her scandalously suggestive voice mails and steamy text messages. Once or twice he even showed up unannounced at the office to have a one on one chat with the raven haired college student. Kagome was mildly flattered – Inuyasha was furious.

Whenever he saw Kagome blushing while listening to her phone messages, or caught the scent of the 'wimpy wolf' in the office, his eyes nearly bled into red and his shackles immediately went up. There were some almost physical confrontations in the hallway of the office that annoyed the entirety of the agency with the sheer volume and testosterone levels involved, and it was when things escalated to that level that Kagome sort of wanted to die of embarrassment.

She had never had men fight over her before, and part of her wanted to tell Inuyasha of her suspicions that the only reason Kouga was 'interested' in her was because he wanted to use her to stay in the loop about developments at the agency, so that he could keep an eye on Kagura and avenge his fallen comrades.

Miroku, Shippou, Sango and Kaede had taken to leaving their respective offices to come and watch the festivities as if it was some sort of prescheduled show when the two males butted heads for Kagome's attention, making the whole thing that much worse for the poor girl. And of course, after a visit from Kouga, Inuyasha was nothing less than a pain in the ass for hours after, sometimes days.

Kagome wanted to tell the dog boy that he had nothing to worry about, she would never consider dating Kouga – but then, what would that mean she was suggesting? She knew Inuyasha was doing this because he didn't want her to go out with the wolf prince? That Kagome was waiting for him, Inuyasha, in actuality? The implications made her sweaty with apprehension, but every day that the two worked and lived together, becoming more and more intimate, Kagome knew they were one day closer to breaking down and giving in to their desires – the result of which she couldn't even begin to fathom.

She knew that sometimes when she looked at Inuyasha she wanted to run her fingers through his snow white hair and maybe lick the side of his neck slowly... but beyond that she couldn't imagine what she would do with the hanyou were he to express his interest in her candidly. Mostly she was thankful things were just staying the way they were for the time being. She only hoped Inuyasha felt the same. She would just die if he lost interest in her, when she was finally a bit secure with the idea that he actually had any interest in her at all.

"Kagome? Kagome. Wake up!" A loud clicking noise alerted Kagome to the fact that she had been staring off into space, lost in her thoughts for some time now. When she blinked herself into awareness, she noticed Inuyasha snapping his long claws in front of her face with a rather amused look on his well-chiseled features.

"Man, you really are tired," he pointed out with something akin to real concern seeping into his voice. "Maybe I should take you home,"

"I told you I was exhausted..." Kagome mumbled angrily to hide the fact that she loved it when Inuyasha referred to her apartment as 'home'.

"I agree. Go to your place and get some rest before your assignment tomorrow. It's not good for someone with your lack of training to be working this hard," Kaede admitted soberly.

"I can handle it," Kagome assured everyone, hating it when people pointed to her lack of experience as a weakness.

"Never the less," Kaede replied with a shrug, waving a hand that signaled the two could leave.

"We should pick Shippou up on our way out," Inuyasha commented as they began to exit the conference room, Kaede and Miroku quickly re-engrossing themselves with their work. Inuyasha opened the door and was almost barreled over by a harassed looking Sango who charged into the room, looking beyond frustrated with a sleepy looking Kirara wrapped around her shoulders.

"Sango, you're back!" Kagome chirped, putting a hand on the woman's arm.

"Any luck?" Kaede asked quickly, appraising Sango's appearance almost as critically as Miroku was.

"No," the woman sighed in a defeated manner, causing Kagome to squeeze said shoulder comfortingly. Sango nodded at her friend, then frowned and ran a hand through her bangs agitatedly before throwing herself in a chair surprisingly close to her partner's. "I was so close... again," she muttered despondently.

"Well, if it's any consolation, we've been at these files for like, five hours and we haven't found any leads," Miroku said in a chipper tone. Sango smiled weakly.

"It's not, really," she admitted with a dark chuckle.

"Jeez, you're all depressing," Inuyasha commented archly. "Take some happy pills or something. God. See you all tomorrow," he said his last statement as though the collective group's negative mentality was a personal offense that was spurring him to leave their presence, when really he just wanted an excuse to make a swift exit because he was becoming increasingly worried about Kagome. He really wanted to see her in bed. Well, in bed alone, sleeping, is what he meant...

"Have a nice night," Miroku called gaily after the rapidly retreating agent.

OOO

Although Kagome was tired, she insisted on a healthy dinner of frozen shrimp dumplings and burnt rice before lights out. Accordingly, that evening found the twenty-year-old history major, the sword wielding FBI agent and their red haired surrogate demon child huddled around the kitchen counter grimacing into their meals. Even Shippou was having a hard time pretending the food was any good, for Kagome's sake.

"Jesus woman, you just can't cook," Inuyasha stated plainly.

"Well, why don't you give it a try some time if you hate my food so much? What, do you think preparing meals is a woman's responsibility, or something?" Kagome asked, pinning Inuyasha to the spot with a withering glare as she sucked on her dumpling until it was chewable.

"No. You just never asked me to help out,"

"Oh. Well... tomorrow night then. It's your turn,"

"Okay. Even though, you know, cooking is sort of a woman's responsibility... Ow! That kind of hurt," Inuyasha accused, nursing his pinched ear.

"Don't mock me," Kagome explained while Shippou chuckled around his crunchy rice. Then Inuyasha bopped him roughly on the head, and Shippou winced in pain. It was a viscous cycle.

The act of coming back to her home for a meal with her temporary family had revitalized Kagome to the point where, after she put a contented Shippou to sleep with an affectionate peck on the head, as was their nightly tradition, accompanied occasionally by a goodnight phone call from Mrs. Higurashi who had a soft spot for the kitsune, she felt the need to watch a bit of television in bed. With Inuyasha, of course. They had been sort of... sharing a bed ever since that night she had invited him in to watch the Discovery Channel with her.

Some nights they used the excuse of falling asleep together with the television on as a reason for why Inuyasha had stopped sleeping on the pullout couch with Shippou, but recently the hanyou had just been blatantly crawling into bed with Kagome. Had she ever voiced any distaste for this development he would have immediately given her space, however the man was sharp enough to tell that Kagome rather liked the new sleeping arrangements. Especially when he woke up after that first morning with Kagome's legs literally twined around his own, her head resting comfortably on his hard chest.

To say he had enjoyed the experience of waking up with a slumbering Kagome would be a gross understatement. Opening his eyes, only to have the first thing to greet him be her glossy mane of hair and adorable features, that looked all that much more innocent in sleep, had felt wonderful and, frighteningly enough, entirely right. He hadn't been surprised or apprehensive when he registered her warm breath fanning across his collarbone, he had felt at home. He was also incredibly turned on, but that was an emotion he felt needed more time to properly develop before he could act upon it, and he wasn't sure Kagome would have appreciated him making a move on her at six in the morning without her consent.

They had never spoken of the change in their system, perhaps they were too shy, or, more likely, they were too afraid the other would stop doing what they were doing if they vocalized the shift in pattern. In any case, things hadn't moved beyond that point, and if either of them felt it odd that they were sleeping together before their first kiss, once again, both parties were mute on the subject.

The evening seemed to be going on in what passed as normality for the two adults as they snuggled into bed around ten to watch the news before sleep. Kagome was propped up against her pillows wearing a baggy tank top and flannel bottoms, and Inuyasha had his arms stretched out behind his head, sporting a pair of forest green boxers and not much else. As they listened to a reporter relay details of a crime scene that had been discovered in downtown Tokyo that night – something new happened.

Inuyasha's arm, that had been safely living by his head until then, slowly shifted down to wrap around Kagome's shoulders and draw her noticeably closer to him. This was not new – usually by the end of the night the two were wrapped in some sort of embrace, intentionally or instinctively. Kagome complied to his not so subtle demands and leaned her body against him so that both could feel their self generated heat radiating off each other in waves.

Then, Inuyasha leaned down and rested his face on the top of Kagome's head, nuzzling it slightly and causing Kagome to acquire a rather silly smile she was glad Inuyasha couldn't see from his position. She discreetly craned her head upwards to signal to Inuyasha that she liked this motion, and at this Inuyasha became a bit braver. Brave enough to move his lips across the crown of her head in what was, undeniably, a soft kiss.

This was new.

As was aforementioned, the two had yet to kiss. Spooning and sleeping near each other was all well and good – but kissing. Kissing was another matter. Kissing meant they had forever crossed the line between being partners at the agency and moved on to the deliciously scandalous and highly delicate realm of lovers. It would be impossible to deny, it would open up a whole other world of possibilities, and would, more than likely, lead to other kissing related activities...

Sucking in a breath, Kagome continuing to move encouragingly, slowly but surely tipping her head up so that Inuyasha's softly applied kisses were forced to move down her head, towards her temple... her cheek... she was trying to make her movement look as natural as possible for a number of reasons. Firstly, she didn't want to just give in to abandon, grab his face and bring it down to hers, because this way there would be no denying she was extremely attracted to him. Also because she wasn't even entirely sure of what she wanted. Oh, sure, her body knew exactly what she craved from her unofficial protector and friend, but her mind was still quivering in fear at the complications that would follow her actions, even as she leaned into Inuyasha so far that their chins bumped together, and she felt his heated breath slip between her teeth.

And then it happened. Their lips made the briefest amount of contact, barely brushing against each other and pressing together with only a slight amount of force, as though the movement had been purely experimental. Inuyasha's eyes widened and Kagome gasped, and both agents drew far enough apart to look each other in the eye briefly, heated gold meeting dazed chocolate, before they violently moved towards each other again. This time their mouths slanted over one another with a significantly larger amount of passion, Kagome winding her arms around Inuyasha's neck while the hanyou plundered her mouth with his roaming tongue.

It was as though a dam had finally broken, and the couple's hormones were buzzing and dancing with joy. Inuyasha roughly flipped Kagome over and pinned her to the bed, his hands freely roaming all over her lithe form while never pulling his face away from hers. The girl briefly reflected how disturbing it was that they had both been repressing THIS much emotion in the past couple weeks. To be sure, she knew she had been holding back some physical desires – but this! She had never felt this way in her entire life. Her whole body was on fire and her legs were fairly shaking even though she was laying on her back. Her stomach was quivering with anticipation for something, and she couldn't seem to get enough of touching Inuyasha. Her hands were roaming places she had been dreaming of caressing for as long as she could remember.

Recalling her earlier desires at this extremely opportune moment, Kagome ran her tongue up along Inuyasha's neck in a sensual motion that made the hanyou moan rather loudly, a sound that broke the silence that had been tensely occupying the duo's first sexual encounter.

"I-Inuyasha..." Kagome rasped, kissing every part of his face she could reach.

"Yeah?..." Inuyasha replied softly, pushing Kagome's shirt up and making the girl shudder unconsciously.

"A-are you sure?..." She had to ask.

"Yes!" Inuyasha replied, almost too quickly. "I think I've wanted nothing but what we're doing right now since the second I saw you. If I'm positive about anything in my crazy life it's that I really, really want this."

"...Oh. Well, all right then,"

"And you?" he croaked a bit desperately as he finally managed to throw Kagome's tank top off the bed. He, too, had to ask.

"Oh, yes. Definitely. I... I really..." Her pupils dilated as she also managed to get Inuyasha topless. "... really want this."

"Good," he growled, smiling rakishly.

Then their lips were seared together once more, their passionate mewls and moans only slightly muffled for Shippou's benefit. In celebration of their lust for one another finally being realized, and for the fact that they now got to do more than just sleep near each other when they crawled into the same bed each night, they kept up their current activities long into the evening.

OOO

The next morning Kagome was the first to awake, a rare occurrence. 'Maybe I tired him out...' she considered a bit bashfully. Said man was laying practically on top of Kagome's small form, arms wrapped possessively around her and face positioned strategically in her soft chest as she considered these thoughts.

Sunlight filtered unobtrusively through the window and illuminated the couple, showing off their contented expressions and relaxed positions. Kagome couldn't remember being this at ease with the world in some time, and she had to admit it felt almost sinfully good. Part of her mind was still arguing that it was a bad idea to get involved with a dangerous man like Inuyasha, while the rest of her was sticking her tongue out and tauntingly pointing out that, well, it was far too late now.

Noticing the digital clock next to the bed, Kagome cursed as she realized she and Inuyasha sort of had to get up immediately if they didn't want to be late for their appointment with the newest potential victim that day. Kagome hadn't even remembered to look over the briefing for the new victim, and right now couldn't even conceive ever working up the interest to do so. She would much rather lay as she was with Inuyasha, feeling his smooth, toned skin all along her body.

But it was almost eight and they had to run by the agency and get suited up before they made it to the potential victim's home, not to mention drop Shippou off, so Kagome found herself regretfully blowing into Inuyasha's face in an effort to awake her lover and let him know he, unfortunately, had to roll off of her.

"Wazz goin' on...?" Inuyasha grumbled in a scratchy morning voice, blinking all around as Kagome giggled at him, still captured in his embrace.

"Hello..." she mumbled, suddenly overcome with an unexpected wave of shyness now that she was actually looking Inuyasha in the eye and memories of everything they had done last night were resurfacing rapidly.

"Hello to you, too," And by the tone in which he replied, Kagome had a feeling he was thinking of last night as well, although he sounded a bit more excited than apprehensive.

"Inuyasha... I'm not so sure this is a good idea..." Kagome admitted as he started kissing his way down her neck while simultaneously trying to wake himself up.

"What's not?" he asked quickly from his place at her collarbone, his snowy ears perking forward urgently.

"Doing... this, right now. We have a potential victim to get to!" she reminded him playfully.

"Oh," he said, his shoulders relaxing at her words. Clearly he had thought she was referring to something else, and Kagome almost rolled her eyes at the thought. As though she could ever leave him now. "Umm... I don't want to," he decided firmly.

"Well, I don't either, but -"

"Come on, just a few more minutes," he pleaded, kissing her slowly on the lips, his tongue moving as though it were trying to lull her into submission and forgetfulness. But Kagome would not be fooled.

"Nope," she chirped brightly, finding an opening as Inuyasha braced himself over her so he could more effectively taste her mouth, rolling smoothly to the side and slipping out of bed. "We've got places to be... besides, we'll have time for that, tonight, when my breath doesn't smell so bad."

At Kagome's proclamation that they would be once again participating in their previous activities that night, Inuyasha got such a gleeful look on his face Kagome almost burst into laughter outright before heading towards the bathroom. He could be such a child sometimes.

Standing under the hot spray of her shower, Kagome inspected her body for signs of Inuyasha – bite marks, bruises, scratches etc... in truth, the couple hadn't actually gone all the way, for a few reasons. One being that it was their first time ever even kissing, and Kagome privately felt that rushing things at this point wasn't a very smart idea. Mostly, however, it was because Kagome hadn't had any condoms in her house, and Inuyasha hadn't brought any over, surprisingly.

The girl had no doubt that if they started something again that night, Inuyasha would be more than prepared, and she would be quite eager. However, that didn't mean they hadn't done everything else they possibly could have last night, which would account for the small claw marks on her thighs and the bruises on her chest. At least they were all easily concealed...

"Morning Kagome!" Shippou crowed as Kagome exited the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel and padding slowly into the kitchen. She smiled weakly at Shippou, feeling slightly disgusted with herself when she looked at him as she thought of how she had done all of those things with poor innocent Shippou just a few feet away.

"Morning..."

Inuyasha was lounging on a stool at her kitchen counter, looking unbearably sexy in his boxers. He was reading the paper when he glanced back at Kagome as she walked by him, a small smirk curving his lips as he spotted her.

"Sleep well?" he asked tauntingly. Kagome blushed and frowned.

"Pretty well," she replied casually. Inuyasha winced and then gracefully got to his feet, sliding by her on his way to the bathroom.

"Touche. I guess I'll just have to make tonight a bit more exciting then, hm?" he whispered in her ear so that only she could hear. She giggled quietly at his retreating figure and shook her head, trying to ignore the way she trembled at his promise. She would not act like a love struck school girl – she was an adult! Adult women didn't get all breathless at a few hushed, dirty words, so she wouldn't either. Besides, she didn't want to see Inuyasha's reaction when she referred to herself as being in love. He didn't strike her as the type who liked talking about such personal aspects of a relationship, especially one as new and tender as theirs.

'But I won't just let things sit,' Kagome promised herself. 'We'll have a serious talk about our relationship, soon. Maybe tonight, before bed. Just to know where we stand. It doesn't have to be love... yet,' she told herself, while a small part of her mind, she knew, was hoping desperately that it was love for him, because she had a terrible feeling it was for her.

It was crazy, three weeks with Inuyasha and she thought she was in love. She had never been in love with anyone in her life, and had thought it was something that only happened to other people until recently.

"Do you know who your potential victim is today?" Shippou asked from across the counter, messily slurping away at his cheerios and looking absolutely adorable, as usual. Kagome hoped if she ever had a child of her own it would be as cute as the tiny kitsune, because it certainly made children much easier to care for.

"Um... let me see," she mumbled, flipping through a file Inuyasha had left out. "It looks like it's a young woman named -"

OOO

"- Rin Hayaka. Pleased to meet you!" a girl of around seventeen sang, bowing her head low for the two agents standing in front of her.

Rin Hayaka was of the Hayaka clan, a group of powerful mortal politicians who had been demon activists for as long as anyone could remember. However, in a terrible turn of events Rin's parents and siblings had all been killed in a terrorist attack by demon extremists who were part of an anti-human movement that alienated the two races, some years ago. Rin was the only remaining member of the once illustrious clan, and had thus been dubbed a prime target for Naraku. She had already been watched over by other agents at different points in the investigation, and so far there had been no attempts on her life, but Kaede considered the girl important enough to send Inuyasha and Kagome over to guard her.

Rin lived in a penthouse apartment in Tokyo with only the family servants. Her home was impressive. Expensive, spotless, and large. Kagome didn't know how she would feel, being the only resident besides servants in a house like this, especially as a teenager growing up - but the girl seemed to be getting along just fine. At least, she seemed chipper enough.

Rin was a slip of a girl, with an attractive face splashed with freckles. Her wild black hair was pinned cutely on the side of her head by a flower beret, and she wore a billowy yellow sun dress and orange flip flops. There was a wide smile spread across her face, and when Kagome and Inuyasha had first entered the apartment she had been humming contentedly to herself.

That day both agents had arrived dressed as lawyers come to address Rin's inheritance from her deceased family, despite the fact that Rin's parents had died when she was ten. Kagome was wearing a purple skirt suit and felt quite professional and adult looking. On the way over, in fact, she thought she and Inuyasha somewhat resembled an older married couple, what with his briefcase and two piece suit to match. The improbable idea had made her smile all through the elevator ride up, and had caused Inuyasha to stare at her in curiosity for equally as long.

"I'm Kagome Umeshi and this is Inuyasha Takeru," Kagome replied evenly, unable to resist smiling back at the contagiously happy girl. Jeez, for an orphan under the protection of the FBI she certainly was cheerful! "We're so glad you could meet with us,"

"Oh, yes!" Rin said, looking momentarily abashed. She had forgotten Kagome and Inuyasha were supposed to be acting as lawyers, and not the FBI agents she knew them to be. "Could I offer you something to drink?"

"Some water would be nice," Kagome admitted, while Inuyasha stayed mute, his golden eyes appraising the interior of Rin's apartment carefully, as though searching for spies. Kagome let him do so without comment – she couldn't feel any mystical disturbances, but his nose had proven to be quite useful on more than one occasion.

At Kagome's request, a servant standing behind Rin quickly hurried off to fetch her something, and Rin let both agents over to the living room where they all sank into cushy green couches. Except for Inuyasha, of course, who set about to pacing the length of the room, glaring out the large windows that lined the walls. Kagome mentally winced; she wished he wouldn't do that, he was probably making poor Rin nervous!

"So Rin, how have things been going for you?" Kagome asked kindly, opening up an easy conversation while simultaneously gaining the ability to innocently question Rin about her recent activities. "Has anything particularly interesting happened lately?" Rin beamed at Kagome and quickly replied with an answer that seemed to go on forever, impressing Kagome with her lung capacity.

"Oh, things have been great! I just got into the play at my school! I'm Helena in a Midsummer Night's dream and I've been practicing my lines like crazy, for all the good it will do me. Do you know how many lines Helena has in a Midsummer Night's dream? I mean, geez! And, I'm interning at the museum of Japanese Modern Art and I go there on weekends and it's soo cool and now I want to be a curator when I get older, even if it's totally hard work. And of course I've been going crazy over all of my college applications but that's just inevitable for senior year, isn't it? Still, I didn't think it was going to be this hard..." At the thought of her troublesome college process Rin forced herself to take a thoughtful pause where the first frown Kagome had ever seen the girl wear flashed across her face briefly. The miko took the moment of distraction to break into the conversation.

"Wow Rin, it certainly sounds like you've got your hands full. When do you have time to hang out with your friends? Where do you like to hang out most?" Kagome knew she sounded like a stupid questionnaire, but she really wanted to get a sense of Rin's daily schedule in order to better monitor her.

"Oh... I don't have that many friends," Rin said nonchalantly with an affable shrug.

"Why not?" Kagome asked in a more confused tone that she had intended. It was just astonishing to her that a pretty, nice girl like Rin would have no friends. Even Kagome had come out of high school with a close coterie of buddies, and she was the queen of disfunction.

"I don't know... I guess... ever since the I lost my family, it seems like other kids my age just don't get it," Rin explained vaguely, keeping her smile firmly in place even as she lost the ability to look Kagome in the eye. "I've just got different priorities, and everyone at school pities me. Because, you know, I go to this prestigious demon and human school where everyone knows everyone's business. It's a bummer,"

"Sounds that way," Kagome agreed emotively. "What sort of priorities do you have that other kids don't?" Kagome realized now that she was merely asking Rin this question for the sake of asking it rather than for informative purposes, but she couldn't help it.

"Well, I want to go into demon politics," Rin said with such a fire behind her voice that Kagome instantly nodded in agreement. "I want to be a representative for humans in the demon government, like my parents. It's important that mortals keep up a strong political relationship with demons,"

"For sure," Kagome said, although she had only gained knowledge of the demon world at all a few weeks ago, and knew next to nothing about the intricacies of demon politics.

"Say, how did you get into this unit of the FBI anyway?" Rin asked curiously. "You're awfully young looking to be an agent, not to mention mortal,"

"Well, it's a bit of a long story..." Kagome admitted with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh! I didn't mean to be rude! I mean, mortals can be great agents, too!" Rin explained quickly, blushing.

"Don't worry, you're not being rude," Kagome assured her. "It's just, I've sort of come into the job rather recently. See, I'm a miko, and they have a dearth of mikos at the agency, and the world, currently, so my employment was a bit rushed,"

"I see," Rin said, nodding her head seriously. "Well, it's quite an honor to meet you in that case. I've never seen a real live miko in this day and age. You're rarer than demons!"

"Thanks?" Kagome offered.

"Hey, what's your partner doing?" Rin asked abruptly, turning around in her seat and staring pointedly at the dog demon who was hanging half out of her window, sniffing the air.

"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome balked, blinking in confusion. One of Inuyasha's ears flicked backwards to address Kagome, but he did not withdraw his head.

"I smell Kagura on the wind," he explained flatly. Kagome gasped and extended her miko senses so that they reached beyond the building, briefly shutting her eyes. Sure enough, the corrupted energy of Kagura penetrated her mind quickly. The wind witch couldn't be more than a few yards off.

'I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings and less attention to Rin's conversation...' Kagome berated herself as she quickly got to her feet, pulling a gun out of her holster and trying not to frighten poor Rin too much. The girl clenched her fists and stood as well, her bright brown eyes shining worriedly.

"What's going on? Who is Kagura?" she asked edgily.

"A demon acolyte of Naraku's, and one hell of a fighter," Inuyasha answered, backing away and whipping out his sword, clenching it until it transformed into the full Tetsusaia. Rin gulped and stood warily behind Kagome.

"Maybe you should wait in another room," Kagome suggested as Kagura flew into sight on her peculiar feather. Rin saw her, as well.

"No, I want to be here for this. I want to see the face of the woman who wants to kill me," Rin answered bravely. Inuyasha rolled his eyes heavenwards.

"Now is no time for righteousness! It will be harder to protect you if you don't -"

SMASH!

"Eeek!" Rin cried as Kagura crashed noisily through her window, wasting no time in flicking some wind blades at Inuyasha with her fan as she passed. Inuyasha growled and deflected them all.

"Kagura you coward! Get off that feather and fight me!" Inuyasha roared as Kagura continued to fly about the room like a happy child. She swooped low around Kagome and Rin's heads threateningly, only changing course when Kagome let off a few rounds at her.

No bullets made the mark, but enough began to eat away at Kagura's feather with pure magic that the witch backed off momentarily. Kagome frowned and made sure the slightly trembling Rin was safely behind her.

Kagura made another trip towards Inuyasha, where the hanyou made a comical show of leaping wildly around trying to catch her, before zooming back towards the window, knocking over bookcases and furniture as she did so.

"Catch me if you can, Inuyasha!" Kagura taunted, zipping back out the way she came and upwards towards the roof.

"Damn that bitch!" Inuyasha cried, utterly frustrated with Kagura's uncharacteristic antics. "I'm going after her!" he called back brusquely to Kagome.

"Not without me you're not!" the raven haired girl replied, latching firmly on to him as he attempted to hurl himself out the window. "I'm going to help,"

"Fine," Inuyasha sighed, lifting her up gently.

"What about me?" Rin asked inquiringly.

"Stay here!" both agents chorused before disappearing out the glass opening, leaving a slightly stunned looking teenager standing alone in her now wrecked living room.

Kagome quickly blinked the tears out of her eyes as the wind whipped past her face while Inuyasha got her to the roof in record time. Adroitly he flipped onto the top of the twenty story building, letting Kagome slide off of him easily before straightening his posture and leveling Tetsusaiga at the lithe form of Kagura. The demon woman stood across the roof, smirking at the two agents with one hand on her hip, and her fan splayed open.

"That was fast," she complimented.

"Are you read you to die?" Inuyasha countered, cocking an eyebrow.

"Not really," Kagura admitted with a sigh, flicking some stray locks of hair out of her eyes. "Hey – have you met my elder sister yet?"

"Elder sister?" Kagome echoed, confused.

"What are you playing at?" Inuyasha rumbled threateningly. Kagura said nothing this time, merely smiled disturbingly once more and shifted slightly to the side. From behind her, a tiny girl came into view. She was an albino with eyes as dark as black holes, and a stark white dress that matched the color of her hair. A colorless flower was perched on her impressive mane, and, most interestingly, in her hands she clutched a round mirror.

"This is Kanna," Kagura said, introducing the demon child formally. "She will be taking care of you today," It occurred to both agents at once that Kagura's earlier act had been a ploy to lead them up to this place, but for what purpose they could only guess.

"What, not up to the task, witch?" Inuyasha asked cruelly. Kagura merely sneered at him.

"But... she's just a little girl," Kagome pointed out, lost. "What can she do?"

"I think the question is, what can't she do?" Kagura rejoined, backing up and letting Kanna slowly approach the uneasy duo. Inuyasha let a warning growl seep from between clenched jaws for every step Kanna took.

"Inuyasha, don't hurt her," Kagome whispered fervently to the half demon. "She's so young!"

"There ain't nothing young about that 'girl', Kagome. She's a demon spawn of Naraku's, and don't you forget it," Inuyasha said gruffly.

"But..."

"Are you looking for a fight, Kanna? 'Cause I'm ready for you!" Inuyasha declared, starting forward with his sword raised above his head. He swooped down on the girl, bringing the Tetsusaiga towards her miniature form swiftly. Kagome shrieked and covered her eyes.

"Inuyasha – NO!"

And then, almost as though her prayers had been answered, Inuyasha bolted awkwardly backwards, cursing loudly and stumbling onto his butt as an arc of light reached out from Kanna's mirror and struck him.

"Inuyasha...?" Kagome asked uncertainly, quietly.

"She... she deflected my blade," Inuyasha observed in awe, touching his stomach with cautious hands and coming away with blood dripping down his fingers. Kagome gasped and ran up to him, quickly trying to get a better look at his wound.

"Oh God, it's her mirror!" Kagome cried, looking back at Kanna in a new light. How could someone so small have such power?

"..." Kanna remained eerily silent, no longer moving and merely staring at Kagome with disturbingly vacant eyes.

"Now do you think she's a pushover?" Kagura called annoyingly from the other side of the roof. Inuyasha did not reply, he seemed to be in too much pain to do much of anything. He had never felt the sting of his own attack – it hurt. A lot.

Slowly Kanna began to approach the two agents once more, carefully placing one pale foot in front of the other. Kagome frowned and hugged Inuyasha closer to herself.

"Stay away! Don't make me hurt you!" she cried, still not quite sure she could bring herself to attack someone with such a young, innocent face.

"Dammit Kagome, get over it. Just kill her!" Inuyasha gasped, trying to ease himself to his feet. Kagome frowned at him and then rose herself, cocking her gun once more. She could do this.

"Inu...yasha..." Kanna murmered softly, the first words she had spoken thus far. She raised her mirror higher in front of herself and it began to glow brightly. Something in Kagome began screaming an urgent warning – she did NOT want that mirror to finish doing whatever it was trying to do.

"NO!" she yelled, wildly shooting two bullets at the mirror itself instead of Kagura. Maybe her bullets, with their miko powers, would be able to stop the horrible talisman...

But alas. As soon as the speedy bullets made contact with the mirror, a white hot burst of light shot them back out at the stunned miko. Kagome could do nothing but stand in place, slack jawed, as she watched her own attack be hurled back at her. She wasn't fast enough to dodge bullets.

"KAGOME!"

But Inuyasha was.

At least, he was strong enough to roughly shove Kagome out of harms way. Unfortunately, this action caused one of the bullets to rip through Inuyasha's shoulder, disturbingly close to his heart. He let out a choked grunt and collapsed onto the roof, shuddering violently. His vision started to go black, and he couldn't raise his head to see Kagome as she started calling his name shrilly in fear. Damn. Kagome packed more of a punch than he had anticipated...

Kagome looked to be in shock from her sprawled out position on the ground, a few feet away from Inuyasha's body. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Inuyasha had just been shot by HER bullet! It was like some sort of twisted nightmare. Off to the side, she distantly registered Kagura laughing maliciously.

"Hahaha... oh, this is just too good," she commented gaily. Kanna continued to look at Inuyasha's now still form in utter indifference, apparently unimpressed with her own handiwork. Kagome swung her gaze around abruptly to the two demonesses, practically oscillating with anger.

"You... YOU!" she accused angrily.

"Yes? What? You want to get revenge for your boyfriend, miko? I dare you," Kagura urged lowly as Kanna faced Kagome, raising her mirror once more. Kagome's brave facade quickly crumbled under the threat of the mirror, once again getting the strong feeling that she should be avoiding the power of that object at all costs. Her eyes flicked back over to Inuyasha who was laying face down, a stream of blood pooling around his side. She bit her lip.

And then there was an explosion.

A sharp projectile landed right in front of the a rather perplexed looking Kanna. The small girl stared at the thing for a beat before the ground blew up in front of her, hurling the demon back into her younger sister forcefully, and barely giving Kagome time to cover her face before waves of heat rolled over her in the after shock.

As soon as the dust began to settle and Kagome could hear again she immediately sought out Inuyasha, rushing to his side and flipping him over, brushing dust and pebbles off of him and making sure the blast hadn't caught him at all. However, except the fact that he no longer had color in his face and was breathing shallowly, he seemed pretty much all right.

Across the roof Kagura struggled to her feet while Kanna remained down, inspecting her mirror carefully. There didn't seem to be any cracks in it, but a thin blue line of what constituted as blood for Kanna was running down the albino's blank face.

"YOU..." Kagura accused spitefully, urging Kagome to look at the beautiful demon. But Kagura wasn't addressing her, her crimson gaze was locked onto a figure now standing at the entrance to the roof. It was a woman! Kagome hadn't even sensed her approach.

The mysterious female seemed to be around Kagome's height, only she looked older. Perhaps in her late twenties. She was wearing black slacks with a matching blazer, and a deep purple button down shirt underneath. Her sleek raven hair that had achieved the sort of combed perfection Kagome's never could was held back in a low pony tail. Her angled, beautiful features were cold and expressionless and there seemed to be no color in her face at all. Her brown eyes were severe and intimidating as they met Kagura's gaze squarely. Something in Kagome's heart sped up when she got a good look at the woman, and it wasn't just because she was emanating mystical energy like a nuclear reactor. There was something disturbingly familiar about her.

"Kagura," the woman replied evenly, lowering the bow and arrow she had been holding aloft just a minute ago. It took Kagome some time to realize that it had been the woman's arrow that had caused the ground to explode in front of Kanna, but when she did she merely gained a new degree of intense confusion. Just what was going on?

"Kikyo... what are you... never mind," Kagura hissed agitatedly, quickly backing away and pulling a feather out of her hair. "I do not wish to tangle with you today. Kanna – let's go!"

Kanna obeyed mutely, swiftly hopping onto her sister's feather as the two rose into the sky and out of sight just as quickly as they had appeared. Kagome barely noticed them leave. All of her attention was now completely focused on the miko who was gravely appraising the afternoon sky, her hair flying dramatically around her.

"Kikyo..." she repeated dumbly, the hand that had been supporting Inuyasha's head in her lap clutching his silver locks tighter. At the sound of her name, Kikyo turned to cooly address Kagome for the first time. The two stared each other in the eye for a tense moment where Kagome swore her heart stopped beating, and then Kikyo broke the contact to look at Inuyasha.

"We need to get him back to headquarters," she stated plainly.

"What? Oh. Yes," Kagome said, a panicked look washing over her features quickly. "He's very hurt. I..."

"Help me carry him down," Kikyo said, briskly approaching Inuyasha and lifting him up from Kagome's lap so that she had one of his arms slung over her shoulder. Kagome barely had time to blink before Kikyo was urging her to do the same, and soon both women were awkwardly hobbling towards the exit, an unconscious Inuyasha hanging between them.

"You... you were Inuyasha's partner," Kagome pointed out, torn between being intensely worried about her hanyou lover and incredibly interested about his ex-lover. What was she doing there? How had she known where she and Inuyasha were? Wasn't she supposed to be living in America, sick?

In the back of her mind Kagome was dimly registering just how bizarre this entire situation really was, and was also having a minor breakdown. However, her overpowering fear for Inuyasha's health was proving to be a good dam for that particular panic attack, and so she found herself focusing on the present issues fairly well.

"Yes," Kikyo confirmed, not even glancing Kagome's way.

"Have you returned to the FBI?" the girl pressed.

"For now," the older woman conceded cryptically.

"Thank you so much for saving us. I'm Kagome. I work with him now. Obviously..."

"Yes, I've heard of you," Kikyo admitted as she forced the door open and the two began the laborious and difficult process of walking Inuyasha down the stairs to the elevator. For a long time there was no conversing at all, merely the sound of heavy breathing and light grunts. Then, "Do you thin he'll be all right?" Kagome asked tentatively as she glanced at Inuyasha's shut eyes worriedly. "I've never seen him out for this long... and he was hit with one of my purified bullets. His half demon blood -"

"Inuyasha is a hanyou, he is stronger than you think," Kikyo explained, her voice confident and breathy. "But in the future, I would advise you to try and not shoot at your own partners. It causes unnecessary risks." Kagome blinked. Oh, boy.

It was going to be a long ride back to the agency.

OOO

Back in her apartment, Rin was fretfully wringing her hands and pacing back and forth around the rubble of what used to be her living room. The two elderly servants she had been living with for some time now were hurrying about assuring neighbors that they weren't experiencing the apocalypse, and trying to repair the damage that had been done, while Rin was listened in on the carnage taking place above her. Carnage that was shaking the foundations of her building. What could be happening? Were the agents winning? And if they weren't, what was going to happen to her?

"I hate this waiting!" she muttered angrily.

"Miss Rin, should we call the police?..." one maid, a geriatric woman with kind eyes, inquired.

"No, no. No humans. Please just phone the FBI like I said and let them know what's happening. Mortal police would probably just get themselves killed," Rin explained honestly.

"Yes, of course," the maid replied, scurrying off and looking not very assured.

Suddenly there came a loud knocking at the door, and Rin gasped, spinning on her heal to stare at the portal accusingly. Should she answer it? What if it was another demon, come to kill her? She hadn't quite believed the FBI when they had first told her that she was a prime target for a mass murdering super demon, but recent events had sufficiently lain all of her doubts to rest, permanently. In fact, now she was hyper paranoid, and was starting to take shallow breaths as the loud knocking continued.

'Get real, Rin,' the girl told herself firmly. 'If it was someone coming to assassinate you, why would they knock? Maybe it's Kagome and Inuyasha, and they're here to tell me everything is okay now!' Steeling herself, Rin took in a deep breath and flung open the door.

What greeted her was certainly NOT her two knights in shining armor, however she wasn't entirely certain it was an assassin, either. In fact, the figure standing on the other side of Rin's door created possibly the oddest image she had ever seen.

The first thing she noted was that he was a demon, which of course started alarm bells in her head considering the situation. The second thing she noticed was that he was badly wounded, dripping with blood and panting slightly. This caught her off guard, and stopped her from immediately slamming the door in his face and screaming for help. The third thing she noticed was that... he was beautiful. The tall, pale man was the most singularly gorgeous figure she had ever laid eyes upon. At first he somewhat reminded her of that agent Inuyasha she had just met, what with his silver hair and smoldering golden eyes, but then she blinked and realized that they were not alike at all.

Unlike Inuyasha who was clearly a hanyou, this demon was full blooded, as was evident from the dark purple stripes across his cheeks and the moon on his forehead. A pure white tail was wrapped casually around his shoulders. He was sporting the remains of what might once have been a wildly expensive business suit.

Blinking herself out of her stupor, Rin registered that the foreign demon was trying to say something to her.

"Excuse me?" she asked quietly, timidly.

"Inuyasha..." the demon gasped, clutching one bloody shoulder and wincing in pain, all while trying to stand upright as though attempting to prove he wasn't half as injured as she thought he was. "I need to see... Inuyasha."

"Are you from the agency? What happened to you? We need to get you medical attention!" Rin gushed, her maternal instincts kicking in as she quickly led the man into her house, seating him on her white couch and not even minding that he immediately got bloodstains all over it.

"I'm not from the agency. I need to see Inuyasha, he's my half brother," the demon repeated, bite to his tone now. He was getting agitated – it had been a bad day.

"He's indisposed right now. A demon just broke into my house and he's fighting her on the roof, I think..." Rin said, a slight wobble to her tone. "Please, what's your name? Why do you need Inuyasha?" The demon looked her right in the eye for a moment, as though judging her, wondering if she was worthy to even speak with at all. After a beat, he decided that maybe she was.

"I am Sesshomaru, and I have important information for Inuyasha. I smelt his blood coming from this apartment, and..." the Great Sesshomaru interrupted himself with a violent bout of hacking coughs that brought blood to his mouth, and Rin winced in sympathy.

"Nina, Tai – please get me some water and a wash cloth, and call an ambulance! No – call the FBI! Tell them to have their people pick Sesshomaru up," Rin called back to the two servants that had come to stand behind her nervously, staring at Sesshomaru as though he were a rare specimen in a zoo. They hesitantly obeyed Rin's requests, unsure about leaving their young mistress with such a creature.

"Wonderful..." Sesshomaru chuckled dourly, leaning his head back. Kaede was going to love that.

"What happened to you?" Rin repeated again, scanning his body for all of his wounds. There were quite a few.

"There was an attack... it was Naraku," Sesshomaru admitted, unsure why he was telling this young mortal girl anything at all. She just seemed so eager to hear everything he had to say, he couldn't help it.

"Naraku! But, he's after me, too!" Rin gasped, comprehension dawning on her features. "You must be another potential victim, like me," she said almost cheerily, smiling at Sesshomaru as though rejoicing over the fact that they now had something to bond over – they were both targets of a madman! Sesshomaru stared at her for a moment, trying to make sure she wasn't poking fun at him in some way, before relaxing and shrugging.

"I suppose..." he conceded.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you're taken care of. We victims have to stick together," she told him seriously. So taken a back by her act of random kindness was Sesshomaru, he was almost relieved when a demon burst through the front door screaming with rage, so he wouldn't have to reply at all.

"AHH!" Rin cried, covering her face as what looked to be a wild harpy demon of some sort barreled towards her. A lesser demon of Naraku, there to off her while her assigned agents were being kept busy.

Unthinkingly, Rin threw herself in front of Sesshomaru, positive he would not be able to defend himself were that thing to get at him in his condition. She shut her eyes tight and waited for the inevitable blow from the screeching demon coming up behind her, only to feel herself be bodily whisked out of the way and tossed onto her own couch. She landed there precariously and stared in awe as the demon she had just been nursing rose to his feet and rushed forward with his formidable claws bared.

A few well placed slashes later the lesser demon was nothing more than a pile of bloody meat, and Rin was staring with an open mouth at Sesshomaru. He stood upright for a minute, his nails dripping with sticky red blood, before he abruptly slumped over and collapsed to the floor. Apparently, that had been the very last of his strength, and he no longer had the power to even stand.

"Sesshomaru!" Rin cried, distressed. She sprang up and propped reached Sesshomaru quickly. "Why did you do that? You're in no condition to fight!"

"What do you know, mortal?" Sesshomaru asked archly, even as his body shuddered in pain. Rin blinked back tears, shaking her head.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Thank you for saving my life."

"It was nothing..." Sesshomaru muttered, taken off guard. Actually, it had been something. That had been the last of his reserved power, and he had used it on a tiny human girl he knew virtually nothing about, not even her name. Why had he done that?

"Who are you?" he asked, throwing her earlier question back at her.

"Oh, I didn't say? How odd... I'm Rin Hayaka," she said, attempting to smile for him once more. Sesshomaru was surprised to find that Rin looked beautiful when she smiled.

"Rin..." he said, rolling the one syllable word off of his tongue experimentally. It sounded like a single bell.

"Sesshomaru, stay awake! _Sesshomaru!"_

OOO

Because Kagome had been able to use Kikyo's car phone, there was a gaggle of medics ready at the doors of the FBI by the time the two women pulled in. Kagome had held Inuyasha's hand in the back seat the whole way there despite the fact that he had yet to come around, and she and Kikyo had said next to nothing to one another. The doctors quickly whisked the hanyou away, leaving Kagome stumbling around like a chicken without its head in the hallway of the medical floor.

Everything that happened after that was a bit of a blur. Kagome dimly recalled Miroku following after the medics with a concerted look on his features, and Kaede coming over to speak in hushed tones with Kikyo. The two women wandered away after a bit for no reason Kagome could discern, and that left the younger miko standing alone with Sango who, the girl realized after an extended pause, was shaking her shoulders and ordering her to snap out of it.

At her friend's insistence Kagome promptly burst into tears, throwing herself into Sango's arms and bawling unintelligibly about how it was all her fault and that if Inuyasha died she would never forgive herself. Sango had patted her head comfortingly and assured her that not only was it absolutely not her fault, but Inuyasha was going to be entirely fine. They just needed to flush the purified bullet out of his system because he was clearly having a bad reaction to it.

Some hours and a few cups of tea later Sango led Kagome to Inuyasha's room. The hanyou was asleep on a bed of crisp white sheets with a serene expression on his usually harsh features, and a chair positioned strategically by his bedside. Kagome did not hesitate to throw herself into the seat and vowed not to move from that position until Inuyasha opened his eyes. Watching her worriedly, Miroku and Sango floundered to find something to say.

"Kagome... he's going to be okay now, really," Sango repeated once more, not liking the look of utter despondence Kagome had been sporting ever since she had arrived at the agency, looking quiet shell shocked. Kagome was never supposed to be depressed – that was her forte, entirely.

"And look on the bright side," Miroku pointed out in a chipper tone of voice, much more at ease now that he had been assured by various medical professionals that his best friend was on the mend. "This clearly means that your miko powers are really evolved now - Ow! Sango!"

"That was NOT a nice thing to say," the youkai hunter pointed out, removing her elbow slowly from her partner's ribs.

"It's okay guys, I'm not going to kill myself or anything," Kagome sighed, leaning back in the chair and looking exhausted. She was only glad that the other agents had managed to keep Shippou away through out all of this. She didn't think she could handle the talkative kitsune just then, as much as she loved him. "I just want to stay here until he wakes up,"

"Well, okay... but get some rest at least," Sango insisted firmly.

"I'll stay with you Kagome," Miroku offered, taking a seat across from the younger girl with a firm smile plastered across his face.

"Thanks..." Kagome murmured, touched. After a moment of silence where Sango debated whether or not it would be prudent for her to remain as well, Kagome spoke again, her tone flat. "The little girl just came out of no where. Kanna... she would have killed us both, I'm certain, if it wasn't for..."

"Kikyo," Miroku supplied, frowning. "Yes, Kikyo seems to have regained her edge in her extended absence, that's for sure."

"I had no idea she was coming back at all, did you guys?" Sango asked the room.

"Nope," Miroku replied honestly, as Kagome shook her head. "And I've been working with Kaede a lot as well. From what I can tell, her arrival was rather a surprise for everyone. But the first thing she asked for when she arrived this morning was Inuyasha's whereabouts,"

"How odd..." Sango commented, stroking her chin. "Still, I suppose we can use all the help we can get,"

"Yes," Kagome agreed softly.

"Well, I think I'm going to go and see if there were any witnesses at the scene who spotted Kagura's exit path," Sango said, waving to the couple. "Please don't worry so much, Kagome. It's not like you, and I'm sure it would make Inuyasha upset as well," the woman added as an afterthought, kissing Kagome on the forehead and then quietly leaving. She might not have known what Kagome and Inuyasha had shared that previous night, but the fighter knew enough to know that the two had something together, and she wanted to make sure that Kagome made it through this rather traumatizing experience all right. Miroku frowned after Sango, perhaps wishing for a goodbye kiss himself.

For the next few hours Miroku and Kagome talked quietly amongst themselves, had sparse dinners supplied to them by nurses of the agency, and played a few half hearted games of cards. The monk could tell Kagome wasn't really interested in anything but watching the falling and rising of Inuyasha's chest after a while, however, and mercifully decided to leave her at it around nine.

"I'm going to head out now Kagome, and I'd say you should do the same..." Miroku began, despite Kagome's blossoming protest. "... but I won't because I know you won't listen. At least promise me that if it gets much later you'll ask to have a cot brought in or something,"

"Of course," Kagome replied, grateful for Miroku's understanding. "And if I could just ask you for one favor. You see, Shippou..."

"Say no more," Miroku said, waving his hands in front of him. "Consider the runt taken care of."

"Thank you so much," Kagome sighed, meaning every word she said. "You're a great friend Miroku," she added after a moment, getting a little misty eyed at the thought of just how supportive the man had been of her since Inuyasha's accident, and Sango as well. "I'm so glad I've met you!" Abruptly she threw her arms around Miroku's neck, surprising him, but not necessarily in a bad way. He smiled and embraced Kagome back, understanding her sudden outflow of excess emotions, and the two shared a relatively nice moment together until, inevitably, Miroku's hands began to wander - despite his best efforts.

SLAP.

"I thought you had the hots for Sango!"

"I do, I do!"

The hours dragged on more slowly without Miroku around to distract her with playful antics and jokes, but Kagome passed the time in Inuyasha's hospital room by staring at his face and taking some time for deep introspection.

She hadn't really known just how much she had cared for Inuyasha until she had seen him gunned down by her own bullets, she decided. Sure, she had thought she was possibly in love with him this morning, but now ... now there was no doubting it. Kagome Higurashi was in love with her partner.

Sighing and laying her head on the bit of bed next to Inuyasha's chest so that her raven hair was splayed out on the white sheets, Kagome smiled a little. It was totally insane, she hadn't even been aware that his species existed in real life up until a little while ago, and now she was prepared to to stay by his side forever. She wanted to spend all of her time with him, and she vowed that when he woke up she would tell him so. So far she hadn't really confessed anything that important to her hanyou, and it was high time she got around to that. She didn't want there to be any misconceptions anymore. It didn't even matter if he didn't love her back, not really anyway. She just wanted him to know that there was someone out there who loved him with all of her heart.

Of course, if they ended up being a real couple, their lives would be crazy. These past three weeks had been especially hard on her, she couldn't imagine a lifetime of it. And he was a hanyou with a taste for adventure and a temper like an explosive volcano, so even if they weren't working on a case their lives would never be normal. And children – what would their children be like?

'I'm getting ahead of myself,' Kagome admitted wryly. 'But I just can't help thinking about it. And I can't help the fact that I don't care about the impossibility of our relationship ever working in the real world. Nothing like that matters anymore. I don't even care what my friends say,'

'Wow. I should really have more near death experiences. They're really good eye openers.'

An odd feeling tickled the back of Kagome's mind, and she quickly sat up in her seat just as someone opened the door to Inuyasha's room, slowly strolling in.

"Kikyo," Kagome greeted, nodding her head. Oh God – she hadn't even thought of this woman since she was brought back to the hospital. Kikyo had her hair down now, and was only wearing her collared shirt. She looked much better in her professional clothing than Kagome did in her own suit, the girl decided. She felt much more like a child masquerading as an adult, where as Kikyo looked naturally elegant.

It occurred to Kagome that this woman was gorgeous, and despite the fact that it was entirely inappropriate for the moment she was currently experiencing (boyfriend – half dead in bed next to her, atmosphere – solemn.) Kagome felt the beginnings of what was undoubtedly jealously bubbling in her stomach. This was what she had to compete with? This graceful swan of a female? Great.

'Not compete with,' Kagome reminded herself. 'They broke up, remember? There's nothing to worry about,'

"He's still not awake," Kikyo observed, walking around the bed to stand on Inuyasha's other side. She looked down at his face intently. "That's surprising... you must really have hit him hard, " Kagome lowered her head guiltily - how was it that this woman made her feel like shit every time she talked to her?

"Actually, it was Kanna who really hit him..." Kagome said, her voice not really holding any conviction since she was merely repeating what Sango had told her over and over.

"Hm," Kikyo agreed in a way that suggested she didn't actually agree at all. A dead silence fell upon the room, a silence Kagome was really too exhausted to fill. She sat back in her seat, content to watch Kikyo watch Inuyasha and concentrate on remembering that there was nothing between the two of them anymore, until the woman spoke up again,

"I spoke to Kaede about you, today," Kikyo confessed, finally looking up to meet Kagome's eyes.

"Oh, what about?"

"Your miko abilities, mostly. She says you have made great improvements for someone so green in the field. I have to say, it is impressive you have been able to get along so well considering how utterly unrefined your powers are," Kikyo explained. Perhaps from another person this statement could have been borderline complimentary, but Kikyo's voice was monotonous and frank, and reminded Kagome of her ninth grade math teacher. Always judging her, always looking for flaws. Kagome inwardly flinched, but put up a brave mask anyway. She would NOT let this woman see her crack.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Everyone is really shocked I've been able to harness my mystical abilities at all," she admitted. "Of course, I did have a little helpful boost from Kaede when I first met her..."

"It's quite a risk, going out and fighting on the field with so little experience," Kikyo pointed out, ignoring Kagome's statement and going on as though this bit of information might have eluded the girl. Kagome shrugged nonchalantly.

"I get by. And Inuyasha's around to help me when I..." she trailed off uneasily, realizing how bad that sounded considering the shape Inuyasha was in just then. Oh, God, this really was all her fault, wasn't it? Kikyo cocked a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Yes, well, it looks like Inuyasha tried his hardest this time, but sometimes it's just not enough," Kikyo said, folding her arms and leaning back against the wall.

"Kagome, you are in college. You're twenty years old – you have your whole life ahead of you, and up until recently it had nothing to do with fighting demons. Your assistance in this case was imperative when there were no mikos on the force, but now that I have returned from my hiatus I beseech you to take my advice.

"Leave the FBI. Get out of this case while you can. It was poor judgment on Kaede's part to ever hire a young girl like you for such a dangerous job, and she's admitted that now,"

"K-Kaede said that..?" Kagome asked tremulously, a cold hand gripping her heart. What was going on? Why was Kikyo saying these things?

"Yes. Look, obviously this case is getting out of hand. You can't possibly keep up under conditions such as these, and whatsmore, no one expects you to. You're not a real agent, and now there is no need at all to put yourself at unnecessary risk. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"I... yes, I do," Kagome whispered, staring wide eyed at her hands in her lap. It was so odd – she was being, essentially, relieved of her duties. At one time she would have rejoiced over this. An easy way out! Her real life back! Everything she had wanted. But now...

Now it was as though someone was slapping her in the face. She hadn't realized just how much she hadn't wanted to leave this job until she felt it being forcibly taken away from her. She hadn't understood how attached she had become to the agency until she was, essentially, laid off. She wanted to defeat Naraku, it was important to her, too! And she wanted to fight with her friends – especially Inuyasha. This was their battle. Wasn't it?

"You can think over what I said, but just know that no one is expecting you to come back after this. They'll understand," Kikyo said, her own voice anything but understanding. In fact, she hadn't even made one facial expression since the conversation started. Kagome shook her head, feeling an abundance of tears well in her eyes despite her best intentions. She quickly rose from her seat.

"O-okay..." she gasped, attempting to grin, as though everything Kikyo had said was fine by her. "I have to go now... excuse me,"

Kikyo watched Kagome with eyes as cold as ice as the young woman stumbled from the room and out into the hall, breaking into a run and not stopping until she had made it all the way to the bus stop that would take her back to her now empty apartment.

OOO

Author's Notes:

Ohhh... I pulled the Kikyo card. Sorry everyone, it had to be done. This was the longest chapter yet though, I believe. 32 pages! And I hope the amount of romance/action in the chapter made up for the lack of interesting stuff going on last time And what about the chapter title, hu? Exploding Hearts? Hehehehe, well, it made me laugh. Anyway, keep an eye peeled for the new chapter. I have nooo idea when it will be ready, but it's going to be called 'The First Thing You See'.

Xoxo

Rio Grande

P.S – I find it a bit odd that I ended the chapter with both Inuyasha AND Sesshomaru unconscious – but whatever. That's just how it goes.


	12. The First Thing You See

Hey all! Chapter twelve is here! Sorry for the angst ridden ending last time around. I don't own Inuyasha, and enjoy. 

OOO

**Bitten**

By Rio Grande

Chapter 12: The First Thing You See

OOO

"A-and then sh-she said... ((sniff)) that I should just LEAVE the F-FBI, a – and... ((sniff)) that I was untrained and t-too YOUNG and... O-oh, Keiko!" Kagome sniffled over the phone, violently wiping away frustrated tears from her curled up position on her bed. "I-I'm being such a damn wimp!"

"Yes, you are," Keiko's chipper voice agreed from across the phone line, causing Kagome's self pitying expression to momentarily dissolve into one of anger before quickly saddening once more.

"She was just... she was just so pretty! And professional! You should have seen her. I felt like a freaking grade school kid trying to pass a college graduate next to her," Kagome vented to the onlyperson she ever called when she was having boy problems.

"Well Kags, I'm not so sure I really understand the whole situation..." Keiko admitted tentatively. "You're Inuyasha's secretary at the agency, you've been living with him because his nephew is staying with you while his mother gets surgery in England, and recently you started hooking up with him," Keiko summarized, trying to sort everything out. Kagome had never come to her with a romantic crisis this severe before, and she was treating it with the same level of professionalism most vascular surgeons used in major operations.

"J-just last night," Kagome affirmed, taking in a shaky breath as she gloomily recalled she and Inuyasha's all too brief sexual encounter.

"Right, okay. Then, today, Inuyasha gets badly wounded on a case and you feel, somehow, that it's your fault," Keiko added, her voice clearly showing confusion.

"... Yeah," Kagome agreed, not ready to tell her best friend that she felt this way because she had actually been the one to indirectly shoot Inuyasha.

"Riight. Anyway, he's saved, randomly, by his ex-girlfriend, a fellow agent who has been living in America until today. The two of you wait by his bedside for him to regain consciousness until she, essentially, scares you out of the room with threats about your current occupation," Keiko summed up cheerily.

"Yes," Kagome sighed, her brows furrowing together.

"Okay, I still don't get it. Why does she want you to leave the FBI? Because of Inuyasha? I mean, I know about being petty, trust me, but firing your ex-boyfriend's secretary because you're jealous is pretty low," Keiko pointed out.

"There's a bit more to it than that," Kagome admitted, forcing herself to come to terms with some of Kikyo's relatively reasonable sounding points. "She thinks I'm too inexperienced for the job. She doesn't want me to get hurt,"

"Get hurt doing what? Filing? Being a secretary at the FBI doesn't sound all that different from being a secretary anywhere else," Keiko confessed.

"It's a bit more dangerous... I mean, some of those files. Whew. They're pretty disturbing,"

"And besides," Keiko added, forging onwards with more passion to her tone. "Who is she to say something like that? Like she gives a flying fuck about your safety. Honestly, Kagome, it sounds like this woman is just crazy jealous."

Kagome bit her lip. They way Keiko put it, the concept of Kikyo being envious of she and Inuyasha's relationship seemed entirely plausible. However, Keiko had not been there in the room with Kikyo when she had dolled out her grave advice. She had not seen the utter look of indifference in her eyes, and she did not hear her bland, factual tone of voice. No, it didn't seem as though Kikyo was jealous at all to Kagome. She was merely using common sense, something the girl admittedly didn't have a lot of.

"I guess..." Kagome replied, not wishing to debate this particular topic, for she knew Keiko would never relent if she thought Kagome didn't agree with her. "I mean, truly, all I'm worried about is not getting to see Inuyasha anymore. I didn't realize how much I wanted to stay with him like we are now until Kikyo brought up actually leaving the FBI," Keiko let out a drawn out sigh at Kagome's statement, clearly fed up with the depressed girl.

"You're not going to lose Inuyasha!" she insisted loudly. "Just don't take no for an answer. Go up and tell him exactly how you feel about things, and tell everyone else flat out that you're not leaving the job. It doesn't seem like they have a really valid excuse for firing you in any case – this is all just the opinion of one bitchy woman. And, besides, if what you told me about Inuyasha is true... it sounds like he definitely wants you around," Keiko said tauntingly. Kagome reddened, considering her friend's statement.

"I suppose that's true..." she agreed softly, frowning when she detected Keiko's chuckles. "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm sorry, it's just so weird! You never have guy problems – you never have guys! I feel like I'm in an alternate reality! It's like your love life is part of a soap opera suddenly!" Keiko paused, and Kagome could almost see her evil grin through the phone. "Kagome, you've done me proud."

"Oh shut up!" Kagome groaned. She did NOT want Keiko comparing their love lives – Keiko's romantic life was like one large cesspool for betrayal, lust, rejection, manipulation and scandalous nights on the town. Kagome's was like a an empty dessert, composed of one young man named Hojo, courageously braving the deadening heat for years.

And then there was Inuyasha.

"Really Keiko, thanks for listening to me," Kagome said earnestly. Outside it was still dark, she had some hours to sleep before she went back to the office. If she went back to the office. "I know we haven't been seeing each other a lot lately, but..."

"It's fine. I'm considering it your revenge for all those times I ditched you for guys," Keiko replied easily. "Just please promise me you'll resolve this mess. Go back to the agency tomorrow! Grow a backbone!"

"Okay, okay," Kagome said, laughing in surrender. "I've gotta turn in now, I'll see you later though,"

"Oh, before you go – I've got a new theory about Kiki's mysterious lover man," Keiko proclaimed importantly.

"Oh, really?" Kagome said, feigning interest when really she was feeling guilt over the fact that she hadn't even given a second's thought to Kiki's boy problems in weeks.

"Yes – I think it's a boy in her Japanese Literature class. I'm not sure who yet, but I heard rumors about her getting snugly with a guy in there."

"Oh, well, that's much better than your earlier theory about her and her professor," Kagome pointed out dryly.

"Yeah, yeah, so I jumped to conclusions..." Keiko huffed.

"Well, keep me posted."

"Sure thing sugar. I hope things work out for you – bye bye!" Keiko sang, hanging up.

"Bye," Kagome replied distantly, turning off her cell dazedly and falling back into her cushioned bed. Even if everything worked out for her, tomorrow was going to be difficult. She just wanted to get some rest and pretend like nothing was wrong for a few more hours. Only, it was very hard to do that when she was sleeping alone in a bed she had become accustomed to sharing with one hanyou.

OOO

Inuyasha slowly let his eyes slide open. His brain registered that he was regaining consciousness – not so odd. It was something he did on a regular basis. Most mornings, in fact. Pale sunlight could be detected out a window, causing him to squint in discomfort, and his mouth felt as though he had been sucking on cotton for a few dozen hours. Still, nothing to be alarmed over. Could just be some mild hangover symptoms.

However, after his initial gentle reintroduction to the world, things began to get odd. Firstly, he was not lying in Kagome's comfortable bed with his new lover twined closely around his body like a deliciously soft vine. He was on a small white cot-esque thing with starchy sheets and an I.V connected to his wrist. He was wearing a hospital gown. The general area of his chest was burning like a mother.

Taking in a sharp breath as the full extent of the damage that had been done to his body reached his head, Inuyasha let his gaze travel upwards to tactfully avoid tearing. He was met with the grim sight of a beige, tiled ceiling. Seeing as how the mere sight of it made him nearly gag with boredom, the hanyou quickly let his eyes roll to the side, traveling down the room until he was back at floor level, his golden gaze fixed directly on a woman who was fast asleep in a chair at his side. Her head was lowered to her chest, her raven hair dripping over her shoulders elegantly.

At first the woman's size and hair color made Inuyasha assume the female was none other than his partner, Kagome. In fact, a small smile actually tugged at his lips at the thought that she had stayed by his side for the duration of what was obviously a long stay at the hospital after some sort of mission related accident, the details of which he couldn't remember at the present moment. However, soon her scent reached his sensitive nose, and Inuyasha began to doubt his earlier beliefs.

'That's not Kagome...' his instincts informed him primly. 'That is... that scent belongs to...'

'Kikyo.'

'What the FUCK?' Inuyasha raged inwardly, abruptly tensing and sitting up in bed despite the electric shocks of pain that shot down his form. A fang jutted out over his lip as he regarded the hunched over figure of the ex-agent, her unique smell of irises and pine trees invading his head.

Just what in God's name was SHE doing there?

At the sound of Inuyasha's desperate shuffling, Kikyo rather abruptly woke up, raising her head and blinking dreamily at Inuyasha with those same, deep brown eyes. She took a moment to discreetly yawn and run some fingers through her long tresses before she smiled weakly at Inuyasha, looking at him with an unspoken secret lingering in her gaze.

"Good morning, Inuyasha. I see you have decided to return to the world of the living."

For a brief moment Inuyasha wildly considered the idea that he might have somehow fallen into a loophole in time, that transported him back three or four years when he and Kikyo had still been partners, inside and outside of work. There was simply no other explanation as to why Kikyo was being so cordial towards him, with her smiles and her 'good mornings'. The last time he had laid eyes on her she had been nothing less than maliciously hostile, as had he, and he certainly hadn't planned on treating her nicely were he ever to see her again.

"K-Kikyo?" he rasped incredulously, raising a disbelieving eyebrow at her. Kikyo smiled that damned mysterious smirk again, folding her arms across her chest.

"Surprised? I transferred back in yesterday," she commented idly.

"What? Well, you better get RE-transferred, FAST, because there is no way in hell I am working with you!" Inuyasha barked, balling up his fists. How DARE she talk to him so casually! Not after what she had done - she had no right.

"That's no way to talk to the woman who saved your life," Kikyo reprimanded, not looking the least bit fazed by Inuyasha's aggressive attitude.

"Y-you – you what?" Inuyasha choked out, eyes nearly bulging out of his head.

"Yesterday at Rin Hayaka's apartment you were attacked by the newest addition to Naraku's motley crew – Kanna of the Mirror," Kikyo began, her tone as factual and bland as she could make it.

"Yeah. I remember that," Inuyasha spat out flatly, still huddling on the other side of the bed and keeping a wary eye on Kikyo.

"Your new miko partner shot at her mirror with purified bullets that were fired back at her, and you pushed her out of harm's way, consequentially getting shot through the shoulder. You immediately fell into unconsciousness due to the magical nature of the projectile, leaving Kagome undefended. Both you and she were about to be finished off by the demon sisters before I stepped in and shot a purified arrow at them, shaking them up enough to make them leave," she finished, her expression never changing. Inuyasha gaped at her, trying to wrap his mind around what she was saying.

"You saved Kagome and me? But why?" he asked. If he remembered correctly, Kikyo had been intent on seeing him literally dead at one point, so why was she now acting like his unofficial guardian angel?

"I'm working for the FBI again, Inuyasha. It is my duty to protect fellow agents, and you were in need of protection," she stated plainly, shrugging. Inuyasha gnashed his teeth and locked gazes with her, unable to bring himself to say thanks. Instead, he said:

"What the hell is going on here? Why are you in my room? It's great and all that you helped me out, but we don't need to bond over it or anything, okay?" he hissed rudely. Kikyo's eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion momentarily, and then she turned genuinely despondent, lowering her gaze and twining her fingers together uncomfortably in her lap.

"I know this must be odd for you, seeing me after so long and after... what happened. But it's disturbing for me too, you know," she whispered, almost accusingly.

"Great, so we agree. This is bizarre. Now _leave_."

"I need to explain myself Inuyasha, please give me that chance," Kikyo demanded in a firmer tone, her brown eyes flickering briefly with a fire Inuyasha had thought she lost long ago.

"There's nothing to explain. You're a hateful bitch and we're never going to be friends ever again, no matter what you do, got it?" Inuyasha snapped, his temper wearing thin. Who did she think he was? Some sort of pushover? There was NO WAY she genuinely wanted to speak with him again, she had made that much clear three years ago.

"Inuyasha, I know we parted on bad terms. Very bad terms... but there's more to the story. Hear me out," Kikyo beseeched, leaning forward and gripping the edge of Inuyasha's bed fiercely. He glanced at her white knuckles and narrowed his eyes dangerously. What was she up to? He looked up at the open door to his hospital room – there was no one outside, and he couldn't hear anyone approaching. They were practically alone on the floor, and he didn't see himself jumping out of bed and making a dash for a window anytime in the near future, what with his current condition. He was trapped.

"I'll give you a minute. But I highly doubt there's anything you can say that will convince me you're not a complete asshole," Inuyasha told her flatly. Kikyo smirked a bit, leaning back and shaking her head wryly.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. Quickly her expression turned dour again, and she made herself comfortable, as though preparing for a long story. Inuyasha frowned – he hadn't been kidding when he said she only had one minute.

"I know this is how you remember our last month together..." Kikyo began, her eyes distant as she spoke. "I became spiteful and resentful towards you -"

"I believe you mean you had a total breakdown and went ape-shit on my ass," Inuyasha corrected with a smile that showed fang. Kikyo cocked her head, considering her ex-lover's statement.

"Yes – breakdown is a good word for what happened," she agreed. "I had a breakdown Inuyasha. For a time I went mentally insane,"

"Ha! Finally you admit it! You're a complete nut case. You accused me of trying to kill you, and then you tried to shoot me with an arrow! Do you even remember that? That was crazy!"

"Inuyasha – I mean what I say," Kikyo interrupted coldly, catching his gaze. "I mean I literally went mentally insane – I was SICK,"

"... What's that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha asked guardedly, a flicker of honest confusion reflecting in his eyes. Kikyo took in a breath, confident he was actually listening to her now.

"You know that I was the first one to independently open up the Naraku case, and that I was working on it around the time that this all happened, yes?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah I remember. You were the first one to detect him," Inuyasha admitted almost grudgingly.

"Well, I was getting a bit closer to him in my research than I would have liked to admit. I was getting too many answers, hitting too many nerves. Naraku feared me, and wanted me out of the picture before I ruined any of his laboriously made plans."

"I knew you had something going on with him," Inuyasha confessed, looking out the window and speaking lowly. "I always thought there was something happening there that I wasn't getting. But after we... you left, I sort of forgot about it. You never told me anything,"

"And I'm sorry," Kikyo said, hearing the clear accusation in the hanyou's tone. "But things were getting out of hand, and I was scared. I didn't know what was happening to me, how Naraku was getting to me... but I've figured it out. And that's why I'm back. It took a long time to recover in America, and sort everything out, but I think I finally understand," she said softly.

"Naraku cursed me... me and the shikon jewel."

"Cursed you and the... jewel?" Inuyasha parroted, confused. "How do you know that?"

"Because I had the jewel in my possession at the time," Kikyo stated factually. Inuyasha blinked, his ears twitching madly.

"Y-you did? But you never told me..."

"It was a secret arrangement between the demon bounty hunters and I. I knew he was after the jewel, so I went to them and asked if I could keep it and protect it," she laughed bitterly at this point. "It turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes I ever made."

"Sango's family... they gave you the jewel? Does she know about this?" Inuyasha asked, wondering why the athletic female had failed to bring up this rather important bit of information with him.

"I doubt it. It all happened during a clandestine meeting between the elders of the clan and I. No one was supposed to know that the jewel had left the hunter's community, so that hopefully Naraku himself would never know. But in the end he found out anyway, cursed me, got the jewel, and then killed the hunters as punishment for trying to work behind his back."

"I see..." Inuyasha breathed, staring at his sheets intently. Kikyo could almost see the gears turning in his head. She smiled again.

"Do you Inuyasha? Do you really understand what happened? Naraku needed the jewel to be tainted in order for him to possess it, so he cursed my heart and mind and tried to sully my pure soul, knowing this would automatically cause the jewel to become evil as well. He played with me, slowly made me believe things that weren't true, that would make me depressed, and hostile. Violent."

"Made you believe things like... I was trying to kill you?" Inuyasha guessed astutely.

"Precisely. I thought you were trying to steal the jewel from me for your own purposes."

"What? But I didn't even know you had it!" Inuyasha raged, indignant.

"It didn't matter. Common sense didn't apply after a while. All I could think of was betrayal, and hate. My soul became sickly and evil. I was dying and I didn't even know it... before long I could hardly use my own miko powers, and I knew Naraku was coming after me.

"By the time he came to take the jewel I hardly had any magic left in me – only enough to walk away from the encounter with my life, and even then only because Naraku was far less powerful than he is now. I knew that I couldn't survive in Japan in my current state, though, so I fled somewhere I thought I could be free of demons."

"America has demons too," Inuyasha pointed out, actually looking Kikyo in the eye now as he spoke, his posture slightly more relaxed. "All sorts,"

"Yes, but none of them had a vendetta against me personally," she explained. "There I was able to meditate and heal myself, regain my powers and get a new perspective. I fought off the curse. For you, Inuyasha. I wanted to return and explain everything...

"When I had the jewel, I thought it might be best to get rid of it before Naraku ever got his hands on it. The curse ruined that idea for me, but, before I became sick I... I wanted to use the jewel to make you fully human," she explained emotively, her gaze shifting to the side. Inuyasha looked taken a back, flinching at her words.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"Because I thought... that our relationship wasn't progressing," she admitted. "I wanted to make you human so we could finally be together, for real,"

"For real? We were doing fine," Inuyasha rebuked angrily.

"Were we? What could we have done Inuyasha? I am one of the most highly ranked mikos in the country, and you are a half breed who has been disowned by his family. How could we have ever worked in the eyes of society? I just wanted us to be able to have a good future. How could we have done that without the jewel?" she asked, tipping her head.

"I- I don't know..." Inuyasha admitted, averting his gaze again. "But you should have at least conferred with me about it!"

"I was going to, I had it all planned out," she assured him, shifting her chair closer to his bed. "But by the time I was going to get around to it, I was already cursed," Inuyasha met and held her gaze, feeling as though she was peering into his soul and begging him for something, something he couldn't identify and wasn't entirely sure he could give her.

"I'm sorry," he breathed out, as though it pained him to admit he actually did feel badly for Kikyo. "If I had known about all this, back then, I might have..."

"Don't say that," Kikyo interrupted, putting a finger to his lips to silence him. "The past is in the past. We were both at fault. Let's just focus on the future now,"

"The future?"

"Yes... I'm back at the agency again, to help you with Naraku. We can fight together once more. It will be just as it was before..." she said, reaching forward and taking his clawed hand in her snow white one. Inuyasha looked down at there intwined fingers with fascination.

"Y-yeah..." he agreed, unsure what exactly he was feeling, only understanding that it was odd. "I guess that's all true,"

"Please Inuyasha, I couldn't bear it if you still thought badly of me now," Kikyo pressed, leaning forward. "Do you forgive me?"

"Sure Kikyo," Inuyasha said, his form sagging and the light leaving his eyes. He was so very tired. When did everything get so complicated? He couldn't believe Kikyo had been cursed by Naraku all that time, and he had never done anything. He felt terrible. "Sure,"

"I'm glad," she said with a relieved sigh, moving abruptly forward and wrapping her arms around Inuyasha's broad shoulders in a loose hug. Her head rested on his chest, and he awkwardly returned the embrace, resting his chin on her shoulder.

This was familiar. Merely the way her body curved into his own was sending waves of nostalgia through his head. He felt shocked at how acutely he was remembering everything now; their relationship, the way they had met, conversations they had had. He had pushed all thoughts of his life with Kikyo to the far recesses of his mind after she betrayed him and left, unable to deal with the painful recollections of his first real brush with love. But now that she was back and had explained herself so eloquently, he was letting himself lower his walls. It wasn't so bad. He couldn't believe there had actually been a valid excuse for their separation.

He had always assumed the reason Kikyo turned on him was because he was in fact a hanyou, and it was almost unheard of for a woman of Kikyo's status and mystical abilities to marry a demon, be he partially demonic or no. Miko's were such a rare commodity, it was nothing short of disrespectful to sully her pureness with his negative demon youki. And Kikyo was so respected in the world, where as he was... less than admired. He hadn't even had a real conversation with his own brother in almost two decades.

"Finally we can bring down Naraku together," Kikyo said softly, causing Inuyasha's golden eyes to glint passionately.

"Yes," he agreed firmly.

"And we'll be the perfect team just as we used to be,"

"Yes,"

"And you can let go of that green miko you've been working with..."

"..."

"Inuyasha?" Kikyo asked softly, pulling away finally as she felt Inuyasha grow stiff as a board at the mention of his new, young partner. "Is something wrong?"

"About Kagome," Inuyasha mumbled, his eyes not visible through his thick white bangs. Gods, he hadn't thought of Kagome. She was such a foreign idea in this reality he had become so wrapped up in during the past half hour, he hadn't even factored her into this new, complex equation. Kikyo's look grew cold, and she regarded the hanyou critically.

"What? You cannot be seriously considering keeping her as your partner now that I have returned? I thought she was just a fill in for my absence," she said.

"Well, yeah..." Inuyasha admitted, scratching his head nervously. "That's what Kaede hired her as, since we were in desperate need of a priestess for this case..."

"So then why settle for her when you can have a truly experienced miko you have trained with previously? I haven't changed Inuyasha," Kikyo added, as if to seal the deal. She cupped Inuyasha's face and made sure he was looking directly at her. "I'm just as good in a fight as I used to be. With me we can be invincible again," Inuyasha stared at her for a contemplative beat, before blinking and pulling back slightly.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem like we were so invincible last time," he pointed out honestly. A frustrated expression found its way onto Kikyo's flawless features.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked, sounding slightly offended.

"I'm just saying that even if we initially hired Kagome because she was the only miko around, she's proven to be invaluable to the team. We've really made a lot of progress, and she's supposed to have a whole reserve of power just waiting to be tapped into," he explained, his eyes lighting up as he described Kagome's skills.

"But she hasn't been able to use her full abilities yet at all, has she?"

"Well... no,"

"Then who is to say she will be able to when the time comes? Who is to say if we were attacked by Naraku tomorrow she would be able to protect herself properly?" Kikyo asked. Inuyasha flinched as pictures of Kagome standing on Rin's roof, looking on in shock as her own bullets were fired back at her and causing his heart to momentarily stop beating came sharply to mind. He shrugged defensively.

"She's been getting along pretty well so far with me around," he offered in her defense.

"But look what has happened now. We need you out there catching Naraku, Inuyasha. Not taking bullets for inexperienced rookies," Kikyo said firmly. Inuyasha folded his arms and looked away, his expression intense.

"Listen, what happened wasn't Kagome's fault. We had no idea what Kanna's powers could do – she hasn't done anything wrong, so she at least deserves to be consulted if we think she would be better off leaving the force,"

"I agree. Of course talking to her first would be a good idea," Kikyo said, nodding her head encouragingly. "At least you're considering it,"

"Don't think anything is written in stone. Kagome has been a good partner," Inuyasha warned, surprising Kikyo with the earnestness in his gaze. "Besides, if she isn't with me I don't know how I'll feel about her safety. She is a target for Naraku..." "And she has that much more of a chance of being harmed if she's out there throwing herself in his path," Kikyo reminded him gently. Inuyasha floundered around to find something to say before shutting his mouth and sighing. Giving off an obstinate huff he fell back onto his pillows, blowing out air.

"Yeah, whatever. I think I need some time alone. I'm still feeling pretty out of it,"

"All right,"

"Where is Kagome, anyway? You said you were with her earlier..." Inuyasha said, flicking an ear in Kikyo's direction. The miko looked thoughtful.

"I don't know. She left to go home some time ago," she said flatly, getting to her feet. "And I am tired now as well, so I believe I will do the same." Approaching Inuyasha she leaned over his form and brushed her lips across his forehead, causing Inuyasha's eyes to snap open in wonderment.

"It's good to see you again, Inuyasha," she confessed, sliding out of the room with no further comment. Inuyasha watched her leave with glimmering golden eyes, a million thoughts racing through his head.

OOO

Kagome had never felt more insecure about entering headquarters in her life. Not even on her first day when she had just been force fed an elixir that helped her see past the material world and open her up to her miko powers. Suddenly she felt entirely out of place, and stupid. What did she think she was doing, acting like a real agent? She had no formal training and went around getting into trouble for the most part. Here real agents came to do their jobs, and she merely came to act like a clown.

Sighing shakily and lowering her head as she passed by agents, some of whom recognized her and waved, Kagome scurried as fast as she could to the elevator. Once in she pressed four, for the medical floor. It was time to face Inuyasha.

Acting on Keiko's rather passionate advice, she had decided to suck it up and go make sure her partner was okay. She didn't really know why she had run away the first time when she had been so adamant about staying by his side. Or rather, she knew exactly why, it was merely a lame reason. She shouldn't have let Kikyo scare her like that, she knew that now. It wasn't that woman's opinion that mattered anyway, it was her friend's and Inuyasha's thoughts that she really had to take into account. And how could she know what Inuyasha was thinking if she didn't go visit him?

'I hope he's not mad at me for not being there to see him wake up, if he's even awake yet,' Kagome thought as she watched the numbers for the elevator change, tugging nervously at her long flowing skirt. She wore a long tank top over it with a thick leather belt, and a small button down cardigan. Kagome was under the impression that she would not be going on any missions that day, unlike Miroku and Sango, so she had dressed casual. 'I'm sure he's fine, if Kikyo was with him, anyway...' she reflected after a moment, rather bitterly.

However, despite her initial bravado and determination, when Kagome finally made it within a few paces of Inuyasha's room she lost her drive. Standing there in the hall holding her bag to her chest, she began to panic. What if he really was mad at her for what happened? She didn't think she could emotionally handle being told she was a failure, again. So, when she spotted Rin wandering around outside an occupied room on the other side of the hall, she quickly made a beeline for the young girl as an excuse to postpone her confrontation.

"Rin!" she called, waving to the high school student jovially. Rin looked up, confused, before breaking into a smile and waving back. "What are you doing here?" Kagome asked, standing in front of the shorter female and realizing she was honestly confused about Rin's presence at the agency.

"Well, Miss Kagome, it's a bit of a story..." Rin admitted, rubbing her eyes and looking tired. The usual bounce in her step was gone, and she was wearing the same clothing she had been in yesterday afternoon.

"It's just Kagome, please. And I think I have the time to hear this story of yours," Kagome added, part of her singing with joy at the thought that this meant she would have more time to stall, and another part of her feeling truly baffled by the whole situation. Hadn't Rin been saved by she and Inuyasha?

"Well, it started after you and Inuyasha went onto the roof to fight Kagura," Rin started carefully, falling into a seat just outside of the room she had just been quietly exiting. Kagome quickly sat down next to her.

"What? Were you attacked by another demon?" Kagome asked sharply, feeling suddenly guilty. She was supposed to protect Rin!

"Well, yes..."

"Oh, Rin!"

"But I wasn't hurt!" the freckled girl quickly assured the distressed looking miko. "Mr. Sesshomaru saved me!"

"Sessho...maru?" Kagome repeated, dumbly. "You don't mean Inuyasha's elder brother, do you?"

"Yep!" Kagome stared at Rin silently, various scenarios as to how this could have happened flying through her mind, and none of them making much sense at all. "I think you're going to have to explain all this in a little more detail, Rin."

"Well, a little after you two left someone knocked on the door and I opened it. Stupid, I know, but I thought it might be you or Inuyasha. However, it was actually Sesshomaru," Rin began, her tone still cheery. Kagome narrowed her eyes, lost.

"What, do you know him?" she asked.

"No, I had never seen him before. He came looking for Inuyasha, and he was terribly beaten," Rin explained.

"What? Why?" Kagome asked. So many things were not making sense. Firstly, she was under the impression that Sesshomaru was a demon of incredible power, so who could have hurt him so badly? And why was he looking for Inuyasha when it was common knowledge that he abhorred the hanyou intensely?

"He said he was injured by Naraku's people. As for why he wanted Inuyasha, I don't know, he didn't get a chance to say," Rin explained. "After I let him into my house and started to tend to his wounds, a demon broke in and tried to kill me. I would have been dead for sure if Sesshomaru hadn't saved me,"

At this point Rin trailed off with a dreamy look in her eyes, and Kagome was caught entirely by surprise as she realized that Rin was fond of the powerful business demon. How could someone so kind-hearted like someone so negative? "But shortly after that he passed out. He had been too badly injured, previously,"

"That's horrible," Kagome sympathized. So, Kaede's prophecy had come true – Sesshomaru was a target for Naraku. She was going to love hearing about this.

"It was pretty bad," Rin agreed. "And I didn't know of any demon hospitals, so I called the FBI to come get him, and luckily they were able to treat him. But he's still out cold," Rin said, nodding her head in the direction of the room in front of she and Kagome.

"You've been staying with him?" Kagome asked in disbelief.

"Well of course! I feel responsible for him now, and besides, he was so nice to me... we're both being hunted by Naraku, so we need to stick together," she added firmly. "After what he did for me, I want to be sure I'm the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes. I want to thank him properly,"

Kagome was so touched by Rin's innocent, honest sentiments, even if they were about a man who was described by most as a 'frigid monster', she had nothing to say for some time. She settled for sitting in companionable silence with Rin for a few minutes, getting lost in her thoughts while Rin yawned and tried to wake herself up.

"I think I'm going to get some coffee now, I need caffein if I want to stay awake," the younger girl explained, getting to her feet. Kagome nodded at her with a weak smile. She was somewhat humbled – Rin seemed to have a boundless capacity to love, and she left Kagome feeling woefully inadequate.

"All right,"

"Say, where's Inuyasha anyway? I wanted to thank both of you together for taking care of Kagura," Rin said.

"Oh... he's actually unconscious as well," Kagome confessed, suddenly realizing how odd it was that both brothers were in the same hospital, comatose. Maybe Inuyasha would get a good laugh out of it after he woke up. Or maybe he would go and try to rip Sesshomaru's throat out while he was down. "He could be awake by now, I haven't checked in a while,"

"What are you doing talking to me, then?" Rin asked, looking clearly distressed. "Go see him! Don't you want to be there when he comes to?"

"Yes, I do," Kagome replied, automatically realizing that this was entirely true. That was exactly what she wanted.

"Well, hurry!" Rin encouraged her, making frantic shooing motions.

"O-Okay," Kagome replied, her tone wobbly as she got up and began to walk away. "Bye Rin, I'll see you later. Good luck with Sesshomaru,"

"Thanks! Good luck with Inuyasha!"

'There's no reason for me to be scared of Inuyasha,' Kagome told herself as she approached her partner's room. 'This is the man you shared a bed with. This is the man you might... no, do love. Just because Kikyo made you insecure is not going to change any of that. He'll never think worse of you because of what happened,'

By the time Kagome had reached the door she had built up enough self confidence to push it open without even bothering to knock. Letting her eyes drift over to the partially curtained area of Inuyasha's bed, she only got the the briefest glimpse of Inuyasha and Kikyo's heads before she silently backpedaled out the way she had come, leaning up against the outside of the door and breathing hard.

Okay. She hadn't been ready for that. Perhaps if she had just walked in to find Inuyasha conscious she would have been all right, but to find the hanyou lucid AND talking to Kikyo? Too much. She ran a hand through her hair agitatedly and wondered what she was supposed to do now. Hang around until the other miko got bored and left?

"...But by the time I was going to get around to it, I was already cursed."

Oh great. She could hear everything they were saying. Now the urge to eavesdrop would be incredible. 'I should just leave... go home, come back and try again later...' Kagome thought halfheartedly. But what Kikyo was saying – it sounded interesting. Cursed? She had been cursed? Is that why she had dumped Inuyasha and moved to America?

"I-I'm sorry," Inuyasha's voice, weaker than usual. Kagome's heart constricted abruptly in her chest, and she let out a relieved breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. At least he was all right. He was really all right. "If I had known about all this, back then, I might have..."

'He sounds so earnest, and sad,' Kagome realized somberly, something in the back of her mind beginning to quietly panic.

"Don't say that," Kikyo, speaking with much more emotion that she had shown Kagome.

'Maybe she reserves her emotions for the people she really cares about...' that little voice in the back of her mind worried noisily. Kagome tried to ignore the voice, but the ugly green monster whose actual existence she had been firmly denying for the past day was starting to take tangible form, fast. Listening in on this intimate heart to heart was a bad, BAD idea and she knew it. Then why couldn't she stop?

"The past is in the past. We were both at fault. Let's just focus on the future now," Kikyo continued.

"The future?"

"Yes... I'm back at the agency again, to help you with Naraku. We can fight together once more. It will be just as it was before..."

Kagome's mind reeled at the meaning behind Kikyo's softly murmured words. 'Just as it was before?' Inuyasha and Kikyo had been lovers before. Was Inuyasha catching on to Kikyo's rather obvious innuendoes? He could be pretty dense sometimes... how was he reacting? Kagome desperately wished she could see the play of expressions across his face at that moment, but she didn't want to give away her hiding spot. Also, she wasn't sure if she could physically move at that moment – she was certainly having trouble breathing.

"Y-yeah..." YEAH? What was he SAYING? "I guess that's all true," Well, at least he didn't exactly sound ecstatic. On the other hand, he wasn't disagreeing, either.

"Please Inuyasha, I couldn't bear it if you still thought badly of me now. Do you forgive me?" What was she doing? She sounded like she was trying to seduce him!

Kagome began to gnaw violently on her own lip unconsciously, her every hope and dream hanging on Inuyasha's replies as the conversation continued. Kagome might not have had oh so much experience with relationships, but she was still pretty positive this was NOT how happily separated ex's spoke to each other after extended absences.

"Sure Kikyo,"

Kagome's heart missed a beat. He was just forgiving her? So easily? What did that mean?

"I'm glad. Finally we can bring down Naraku together," THEY could bring down Naraku together? That had been what she and Inuyasha were doing, long before Kikyo ever magically reappeared on the scene.

'Well, technically, Kikyo WAS there first...' Kagome admitted despondently. 'But that doesn't mean she can just usurp control of the investigation. I've put way too much effort into this case!'

"Yes," JESUS. Was he dense? Why was he just giving Kikyo everything she wanted? Kagome felt the cold hand of betrayal wrap around her form, her eyes stinging uncomfortably. She knew she had messed up, but she had actually been under the impression that she had been a rather good partner to Inuyasha. Apparently not, if he was just willing to let Kikyo brush her to the side so casually.

"And we'll be the perfect team just as we used to be,"

"Yes,"

The perfect team, hu? What did that make she and Inuyasha? Imperfect? 'That's putting it lightly...' the bitter voice in Kagome's head snorted disdainfully.

"And you can let go of that green miko you've been working with..."

_WHAT_.

This was it. Kagome listened for any sort of sound from the suddenly eerily silent room, waiting for Inuyasha's decision. Kikyo couldn't BE any more clear about her intentions now. She wanted Kagome gone – wanted to replace her. Whether or not Inuyasha was really going to let her do that was going to be determined imminently.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome heard Kikyo ask breathily. She was beginning to hate that freaking breathy voice. It was so ... conniving.

"About Kagome," Yes? What a-fucking-bout her?

"What? You cannot be seriously considering keeping her as your partner now that I have returned? I thought she was just a fill in for my absence," Kagome winced sharply, her face reddening. A fill in? Is that really what she was? When she had first discovered Kikyo's existence, she had briefly entertained that idea herself. But now... she thought things had changed now.

'How dare she suggest something so terrible,' Kagome thought spitefully, gnashing her teeth together. 'She's such an evil witch! Keiko was right. She's just -'

"Well, yeah... That's what Kaede hired her as, since we were in desperate need of a priestess for this case..."

Oh God. No. He did not just say that. Kagome shakily got to her feet, not even noticing as a rebellious tear zipped down her cheek. How could he be agreeing with Kikyo? How could he just sit there and affirm every insecurity and fear Kagome had ever harbored about her relationship with him and her station at the FBI? How could he do this to her? She must have been very confused about their connection. It was nothing like she had thought it was.

"So then why settle for her when you can have a truly experienced miko you have trained with previously? I haven't changed Inuyasha,"

Unable to listen to the heart shattering conversation for another second – what was the point? It was just a Kagome bash fest – Kagome turned about and sprinted down the hall. She dashed past Sesshomaru and Rin's room without stopping to check in and nearly flung herself into the elevator, only letting herself begin to cry in earnest once the doors had closed and she was on her way down to the parking garage.

She covered her face with her hands, shaking her head and trying to get a hold of herself. What was wrong with her? That was the second time she had run away from Inuyasha because of Kikyo. That woman... she was ruining everything! Everything that had been slowly building between she and Inuyasha, who had been so emotionally closed off and damaged when she met him. Everything was falling to pieces!

She stumbled into the underground garage, mournfully unlocking her ford escort and slipping into the front seat, her chest heaving shakily. She sat in silence for a second, only the sound of her labored breathing and hiccups occupying the bleak silence about her. Then she rested her forehead carefully on the steering wheel, wiping the moisture away from her face and taking in a long breath.

What was she going to do, now?

OOO

Naraku narrowed his eyes and pierced his lips. If he was the sort of man who groaned loudly and knocked things over when he was angry, he would have done so. But as it stood he was certainly not that sort of man, or demon for that matter. No. He was the type who narrowed his eyes subtly and turned his lips into a single thin line. That meant he was really unsettled.

"You are certain it was her?" he asked in his scratchy baritone, regarding the two female servants in front of him impassively.

"Of course I was certain. I'd recognize that scary witch anywhere," Kagura affirmed, folding her arms obstinately to hide the fact that she herself was a little unruffled. Kikyo always got to her – you would have to be blind to not see that she was dripping with highly refined miko power.

"This is... interesting." Naraku admitted, resting his face in his hand and staring at the floor thoughtfully. In truth, he had not been keeping a look out for Kikyo lately, so her sudden return had taken him completely by surprise. He did not like surprises.

"Interesting? Don't you mean bad? I thought she was old news," Kagura reminded him.

"I could not kill Kikyo, at least not back then. It will take much more to bring her down, physically. But in a way, it is nice that she is back. I will be able to see her die in person now." Apparently his opinion of their current situation had changed entirely in the past few minutes. After all, why waste anger on a situation that, while complicated, could ultimately end up in his favor?

"Sir?" It was rare that Naraku ever admitted weakness to anyone. This was... quite interesting.

"Priestesses are such problems. I am so very glad there is such a lack of them, currently," Naraku added as an afterthought. "Kanna," he said abruptly, and the small albino child by Kagura raised her head to signal she was listening. "You were quite successful with Kagome and Inuyasha. I think we should continue our pursuit of them... at this point they are practically the backbone of the FBI." Kanna nodded, awaiting further orders.

"The jewel is almost entirely tainted," Naraku continued, rolling a small bead he produced from his large jacket around in his hands idly. It glowed lightly with an odd shade of purple, pulsating magic. Kagura watched it hungrily, fingering her fan. "Soon I will be able to utilize it fully and become the true demon I was meant to be. We only need a little more blood... the loss of Rin Hayaka was quite annoying, and the fact that Sesshomaru got away frustrates me as well."

"You honestly thought we were going to get him just because he wasn't under FBI protection?" Kagura asked despite herself. "He is truly powerful." Naraku flashed the demoness a smile with teeth.

"Kagura, once I gain total control of this jewel demons like Sesshomaru will be mere rodents to me. I will be all powerful," Naraku pocketed the jewel once more, and got to his feet. "The day I kill Kikyo you will understand this." Kagura's red eyes flashed with something akin to disgust at his words, signifying that perhaps she was not exactly looking forward to that day.

"Kanna, come with me," Naraku ordered as he began to stroll away, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "We have plans to make,"

"Yes, Master," Kanna replied softly, dutifully gliding into the distance with the half demon. Kagura watched them leave in silence. He never took her away to make plans – he didn't trust her like he trusted little Kanna.

And he damn well shouldn't.

Still... it made her life a lot harder. How was she ever going to be free of Naraku if she didn't have a full understanding of his inner workings? 'And it's not like Kanna is going to tell me anything useful...' Kagura admitted with a sigh. She and Kanna may have been siblings, but there was no other real allegiance between them. Not that she wasn't fond of the girl, she was just... not somebody you depended on.

Kagura took a feather from her hair and threw it into the air, leaping onto it gracefully and then soaring out of the warehouse and into the sky. She had plans to make, herself.

OOO

He was alone now. Kikyo had left long ago, and currently it was evening, nothing but the incessant beeping of machines and the occasional sound from surrounding patients reaching his overly sensitive ears.

Miroku had come down to visit Inuyasha and cheer him up in the late afternoon, making him feel slightly better about the fact that he had totally botched an important mission, consequentially not only nearly getting Kagome killed, but their potential victim as well. But Miroku had been slightly distant at the same time, as though he had something important on his mind (probably Sango, again.) and had left after a little while for a meeting he wouldn't talk about. Apparently he and Sango had successfully destroyed a demon of Naraku's on their mission that day, though. That was good.

Kaede had stopped by, too. Mostly to give him the necessary updates on the case since he was unable to make it to the meeting that day, and of course to give him his new assignment. He didn't mind that she was pushing him so hard, he wasn't really hurt anymore anyway. His body had just needed to rest, and to get that bullet out. He was totally fine now, but Kaede had insisted he spend one night at the hospital. Then tomorrow he could go on his next case with Kagome completely recuperated. To make sure Inuyasha did as he was told, Kaede told him the reason she was so worried was because she didn't want to lose the agency's 'best fighter'. Petting Inuyasha's ego always did the trick.

Kagome had not come to see him. For some reason it was really bothering him that his newly acquired lover had not felt the least bit inspired to stop by and look after him while he was injured. He had been assured that she was completely unharmed after the confrontation with Kanna, so she didn't even have bad health as an excuse for her absence. And, not that he was blaming her or anything, but she HAD been the one to shoot him and all... the least she could have done was popped in for a quick check up.

'Maybe she was out with her friends since she had the day off...' he thought idly, the idea not sitting well with him. He knew she missed her 'normal' life, but that was it? No more caring about Inuyasha? He was only feeling particularly sore about all this because he knew that if the situations were reversed, he wouldn't have been able to stay away from her. He didn't like the idea that he cared about her more than she cared about him.

'But she told me the other night that she did care about me... a lot,' he reminded himself, frowning lightly. He folded his arms behind his head and snorted angrily. Enough thinking about this girly shit – there was nothing he could do about it now. If Kagome didn't want to come visit him, that was FINE. He didn't want to see her, either.

Besides, Kaede had told him something else that was quite interesting to the hanyou. Apparently, his dear brother Sesshomaru was checked in at this particular hospital currently as well, and he was totally incapacitated. The old hag of an FBI agent had been right about him being a target for Naraku, though Inuyasha had no idea why. The man was about as pure as a barrel of concentratednuclear waste.

In any case, he had gotten the shit utterly beaten out of him by a demon. They didn't know which demon of Naraku's yet, obviously quite a powerful one if the amount of damage done to Sesshomaru was any clue. Inuyasha might not respect his half-brother's personality or beliefs, but he had to respect his power, just a bit.

Most interestingly though, before Sesshomaru lost consciousness he had called out for him. But why would Sesshomaru want to see Inuyasha? A large smirk curved its way across Inuyasha's face. Had he been looking to him for protection? That would be GREAT! The proud Sesshomaru, cowering in fear and calling out out for Inuyasha.

Creeping stealthily down the hall, Inuyasha sorted his way through the cornucopia of disgusting hospital smells to track Sesshomaru's unique, horrid scent. Eventually he found himself in front of an ordinary hospital room. Quietly he opened the door and slipped in. He had to see this with his own eyes.

The room was dark, but Inuyasha's enhanced golden orbs picked out Sesshomaru's form instantly. It was really him. He was lying serenely in bed with his arms resting at his sides, his perfectly chiseled face impassive and innocent in sleep. Or coma. Whatever.

There was also a young girl in the room – the potential victim he and Kagome had been watching over, Rin. She was curled up on a cot near Sesshomaru's bed, a thin blanket draped over her form, her face slackened with exhaustion. She was completely out and didn't look as though she would be waking any time soon.

Why she was in the room alone with his half-brother was beyond Inuyasha, and he honestly didn't feel like dwelling over it right then. He'd ask Kaede later, but currently the whole situation was too confusing. All he knew was that when Sesshomaru woke up he was going to be pissed. His brother HATED humans, and coming back to the world of the living only to find a slip of a mortal girl at his side was going to make him angry. That in itself was enough of a reason for Inuyasha to dismiss Rin's presence – anything that would work towards making Sesshomaru's hospital stay as unpleasant as possible was fine by him.

Scratching his head awkwardly, he continued to stare down at his brother. He had never seen him like this before. Hell, he had never even seen him with a paper cut before, much less a collection of scrapes and bruises marring his perfect body. When Inuyasha had been born from his parents ill advised bonding Sesshomaru was already an adult, and an angry adult at that. He never let his guard down around Inuyasha and the only time they spoke to one another was to argue over something. He had never just BEEN with the demon, had never stayed and looked at him with nothing to say. It was disconcerting.

It also brought to light a few disturbing points. Naraku was getting truly, truly powerful if he could tangle with someone like Sesshomaru, or hire another demon to do so. Sesshomaru was one of the most well protected, influential demons in the city. If word got out that he had been taken down by a homicidal maniac the FBI couldn't stop, there would be mass hysteria.

'Damn...' Inuyasha thought gravely, letting his golden gaze drift away from Sesshomaru's form. 'I really wish he was conscious, it would be good to get some information out of him. He might have advice on how to stop whatever demon did this to him, if the demon walked away from the confrontation alive...'

'Just one more thing to worry about, I guess,'

Exiting the room as silently as he had entered it, Inuyasha padded his way back down the hall. Maybe it would be a good idea to actually get some solid sleep in, during the remaining hours of the night he had left. He certainly did have a lot of things to worry about, not the least of which was his newly returned ex-partner, and it might be nice to give his brain some time to cool down.

Not that he had really given Kikyo too much thought since she had stopped by. In fact, he had been making a conscious effort to NOT think about her. It was just too much. How was he supposed to handle all this emotional stuff right now? Sure, it was great that it turned out all that had happened between them during their 'break up' was just a big fat misunderstanding, but on the other hand... what did she want from him now? He didn't know if he could go back to how things were before, and something was telling him that she sort of wanted to. How could she think things would stay the same between them, even after she explained what had been done to her?

'But she's been through so much...' Inuyasha admitted regretfully as he threw himself back onto his distinctly uncomfortable bed. 'I owe her for not seeing that Naraku was getting to her back then.' It was odd to admit that he, in fact, did owe Kikyo. Less than twenty four hours ago he had still harbored immense hatred towards her, and now his entire view of their relationship had done a complete 180. He was still reeling.

'I could have saved her so much pain and suffering if I had been less blind. I mean, how could I have thought it was normal for your girlfriend to go crazy on you like that? How could I have thought that that was really Kikyo?'

'Maybe...' he thought sluggishly as his eyes drooped against his will. He was more tired than he cared to admit. 'Maybe I didn't know her as well as I thought I did...'

OOO

"Oh man, this is my favorite part!" Miroku gushed, leaning in and staring intently at the small television screen in front of him. Next to him, Sango surged forward as well, a broad smile on her face.

"Me, too!" she gasped in excitement.

"Kagome, are they gonna make it?" Shippou asked timidly, staring up at Kagome from his position in her lap with a positively stricken look on his face. "I can't believe they didn't finish building the highway! It's so irresponsible."

"Yes, Shippou, it is," Kagome agreed gravely. "But Keanu Reeves would never let everyone die, you know that."

The odd quartet was sprawled out on the floor in Kagome's humble living room, wrapped in a collection of comforters and sheets, idly stuffing their faces with popcorn as they all watched Kagome's DVD of Speed with something akin to reverence. Speed had to be the best action flick of all time – everyone loved it, even Sango.

Kagome had no idea how she had ended up spending her evening with her two co-workers and current live in demon child, doing a movie marathon and eating junk food she usually reserved for girl's nights in with Keiko and Kiki. But, she decided firmly, she liked it.

Miroku was being his usual jovial self, cracking jokes about Keanu Reeve's odd accent and keeping the atmosphere light hearted. Sango had, surprisingly, let some of her guards down and, as far as Kagome could tell, was thoroughly enjoying herself. She was even trading small talk with Miroku. Shippou was just happy to be hanging out with the adults and staying up late when he wasn't supposed to.

It had all started when Sango called Kagome that afternoon to see how she was doing after discovering that she wasn't at the agency with Inuyasha like she had assumed she would be. At that point Kagome had just recently returned home from her failed attempt to meet with the hanyou and had been utterly unable to keep the depression and self hatred from her voice when she spoke with her new friend. Easily picking up on Kagome's distress, Sango ran over to the college student's apartment despite the fact that she had just recently returned from a draining mission and forced the young woman to spill her guts. After Kagome had tearily confessed her problems Sango looked ready to kill, although she was having a hard time figuring out who to go to first – Kikyo or Inuyasha.

Then she had suggested something utterly uncharacteristic for the stoic demon hunter. Something actually fun, with no work related benefits.

"Kagome... you need to have a slumber party," Sango said firmly, grasping Kagome's shoulders and looking quite serious.

"W-what? With who?" Kagome had asked shakily.

"Me, Miroku and Shippou of course," she had enthused.

"But... But..." Kagome had protested weekly, unsure if she was ready to have that sort of unadulterated fun in her current state. But Sango was already on her feet, marching determinedly over to the phone and quickly calling up her partner.

For her part, Kagome had just been shocked Sango was willing to sleep in a room with Miroku.

But it had all worked out for the best, because Kagome was having a great time now with her friends and, honestly, who didn't love a good viewing of Speed? Sure, Inuyasha never really left her thoughts once, and occasionally she found herself zoning out, her rebellious mind drifting towards more serious matters, but when that happened one the gang was always there with an uplifting comment.

"YAY!" Shippou cried enthusiastically. "They did it! They made it Kagome, did you see that!" he asked, almost hysterically.

"I told you they'd be okay," Kagome laughed, ruffling the fascinated kitsune's auburn hair affectionately.

Apparently Miroku had checked up on Inuyasha as well before coming over with Shippou, and the agent had privately assured the girl who was still too rattled to see her partner herself that the hanyou was indeed perfectly healthy, and would be in tip top shape for their mission tomorrow.

Their mission tomorrow... Kagome shivered unconsciously. Was she ready to do that? Was she ready to fight with Inuyasha again? Her confidence in her skills had been so greatly diminished she felt almost silly returning to the field. But everyone had promised her that Inuyasha still considered her his official partner and would be expecting her there, with no Kikyo involved at all. So how could she abandon him? Even if he had agreed with everything Kikyo said, he hadn't lost all faith in her yet if he was willing to go on another potentially fatal mission with her by his side.

'And tomorrow we're going back to Kouga's mansion...' Kagome added thoughtfully. 'Maybe he'll be too distracted by Kouga to bother talking to me about what happened at Rin's, or to tell me that he thinks our relationship is a mistake now that Kikyo's back...' Kagome took in a calming breath and shook her head. 'I wouldn't be able to take it if he told me that,'

"I think I'm going to make some frozen pizza. Anyone want?" Kagome asked in an overly cheery voice, quickly getting to her feet with Shippou. She needed to distract herself. Thinking about Inuyasha so much when she was supposed to be having fun was killing her.

"Uh, sure," Miroku said hesitantly, and Sango nodded.

"I'll come with you!" Shippou chirped, following after Kagome as she walked over to the small kitchen.

"Okay,"

Sango and Miroku exchanged nervous glances as they watched Kagome leave. She may have been acting cheery, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was still basically in a depressed funk, despite their noble efforts.

Both Sango and Miroku had firmly decided that Inuyasha was being an ass. Sango had relayed to Miroku all that Kagome had told her about the conversation she had overheard between the two ex-partners, and it was unanimously agreed that Inuyasha was cruel to say those things to Kikyo after he had gotten so close to Kagome. It didn't really matter that he was unaware Kagome was listening in the whole while. Now that they knew the two had gotten a bit physical with their affection, that idea was compounded greatly.

Miroku hadn't told Inuyasha he knew what had happened between him and Kikyo, and his opinion about Kagome as a replacement, when he had gone to visit him. Ass or not, Inuyasha deserved a kind face when he was in the hospital. Still, he hadn't been able to completely look the hanyou in the eye, and he had lied about having a meeting when he had snuck off to go to Kagome's. He had a feeling Inuyasha knew something was up. Oh well.

Never the less, something good had emerged from this wreckage of a day. In privately venting her frustrations to Miroku about the big mess, Miroku felt that he and Sango were having their first true bonding experience since Myouga's house. And that 'bonding experience' had been nothing to rejoice over.

Finally they were agreeing over something, and discussing it heatedly. And even though it was over an unfortunate matter that didn't really concern them in any way shape or form, he appreciated being able to talk to Sango normally. She was always so tense around him, it made him want to shake her and demand that she speak to him as though they were on good terms again. He loved conversing with Sango, he felt that she understood him better than any woman he had ever known, and it was at least half of the reason he was so attracted to her. The fact that they were together again and couldn't share in that connection made him furious to no end.

"Poor Kagome..." Sango sighed, resting her hand in her cheek and pausing the movie. "If Inuyasha were here I'd give him a piece of my mind,"

"Yes. Kagome is a nice, kind hearted girl. She doesn't deserve this sort of treatment from someone like Inuyasha," Inuyasha may have been Miroku's best friend, but he knew that at times the hanyou was about as gentle and caring as an iceberg.

"Really! And I mean, after what he did with Kagome, he can't just brush her aside for some ex..." Sango ranted.

"Well, he hasn't actually done that yet, you know. He hasn't even spoken to Kagome yet, maybe he'll surprise us all," Miroku reminded her, reasonably.

"I don't know, from the sound of it, it seems Kikyo's got him pretty wrapped around her finger," Sango pointed out.

"Yes, but we don't know the whole story yet. Kagome mentioned something about Kikyo being cursed... and for Inuyasha to be on speaking terms with her again I'd have to imagine that something particularly significant would have had to take place. He might just be feeling guilt towards Kikyo,"

"Maybe..." Sango agreed hesitantly, turning to stare at Kagome's form in the kitchen. "I just don't want her to get hurt, Miroku. Kagome has been so kind to me since I returned to the FBI. I've never had a friend like her before, and it doesn't seem fair that this should happen to her. She's special – I mean, who else could get us all here like this, having a slumber party? I at least want to try and help her get through this,"

"I know Sango, I do too," Miroku agreed, putting a comforting arm around Sango's shoulder as he noticed the utterly angry and saddened look on her features. "But I don't know if there's a whole lot we can do..."

"Yeah I know, I'm just being my usual pushy self," Sango admitted, letting out a rueful breath. "Miroku -" It was then that the demon hunter noticed her position. She was huddled closely next to Miroku, leaning against Kagome's couch. Her legs were positioned so that they were leaning in towards his form, and he had one long arm wrapped tightly around her, bringing her in closer.

'It feels so natural...' Sango thought as her breathing increased and her form tensed. She hadn't even realized how close she had gotten to her partner until just now, because being near Miroku seemed so normal. 'Even after all this time, my body still remembers him...' she realized bitterly, quickly drawing away, red faced.

Guilt. There it was, just like always. Why was she cuddling with her old flame when she had a demon to kill? Throwing this thing together hadn't seemed so bad before, because she told herself it was all for Kagome's benefit, to make her feel better. She hadn't realized she would end up having such a great time.

"Sango?" Miroku asked inquiringly, feeling slightly hurt as he watched her wrench herself out of his grasp with a look of anger on her face. She glanced up at him, her expression dissolving into one of confusion when she caught sight of his earnest purple gaze.

"Miroku, I..."

"Dinner is served!"

Both adult's shoulder's heaved as Kagome and Shippou returned to the circle of blankets, Sango's with relief and Miroku's with resignation. Miroku watched Sango quickly get up to help Kagome distribute pizza with a melancholy expression. She had been so relaxed – she hadn't let him get that close to her in a long time. It had been nice.

"You want pizza, Miroku?" Kagome asked, proffering the monk a piece.

"Yes, thank you."

OOO

It was nearing eleven at night, and Kaede was still at the agency, holed up in her office. Currently she was sitting down with her elbows propped up on her desk, her hands folded under her chin. She was glaring accusingly at her telephone.

Ordinarily she might not have stayed quite this late at the office. Sure, she was working overtime every day now, but she was an old mortal woman and needed to rest. Something had come up today though that had caused the ex-miko to remain at headquarters much later into the night than usual. She should have known it would happen eventually, in fact she was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. The case was just going too slowly, and there was nothing to be done.

A member of the demon press had called her office around six, with uncomfortable questions about the recent disappearance of one Sesshomaru Takahashi after an apparent brawl at his mansion the previous day. There had been questions about rumors of a murdering demon who was dwelling in the city, questions Kaede could not and would not answer.

There were numerous reasons as to why Kaede did not want the press to get their hands on information about Naraku, good reasons as to why she wanted to keep this investigation a secret. One of them being that the reputation of the demon FBI would probably be pretty fairly tarnished if it was discovered that the demon Naraku's existence had gone on acknowledged for a few years now, and still they had not been able to directly apprehend him.

However, this was not Kaede's main concern, important though it was. If she thought that the admittance of Naraku's existence and plans would help the people of Tokyo, she would have come out long ago, damn the added pressure. However this was not a normal murderer they were dealing with, the consequences of his success were not average, and the community that would be the most incited at his actions were unique as well.

The demon population was notorious for turning into vigilantes when there was a member of their community on the lose, reeking havoc. Demons were simply so much more destructive by nature than humans that a. a rogue demon could do far more damage to a city than a criminal human could and b. the good demons of the city all considered themselves pretty powerful as well and were notorious for challenging evil-doers, even seeking them out.

Kaede shuddered when she thought about the amount of pure blood Naraku could possess were demons of a noble nature were to actually SEEK him out. She sighed heavily and shook her head. No, it would be better to keep Naraku a secret from Tokyo for now. But then... what was she supposed to do about this reporter? Refute the information and then get pelted with accusations of lies if Naraku's case was actually brought to the public's attention?

'I suppose a 'no comment' might be all right... but that's practically as good as saying 'yes, there is a raging demon on the lose with the ability to take down a demon as illustrious as Sesshomaru Takahashi.'' Kaede reflected somberly. She had spent the past few hours trying to tie up as many lose ends as possible to further incapacitate curious investigators from getting any leads on Naraku. She had had to spend her time doing this when she was supposed to actually be looking FOR leads, not closing them off.

A light knocking at her door caught Kaede off guard, and alerted her to the fact that she had been glowering at her phone for a half hour. She needed to go home... and who would still be at the office so late?

"Come in," she called hesitantly.

"Hello Kaede," Kikyo said softly as she glided into the room and took a seat across from her superior. Ah, of course. Who else?

Kaede would have to say that, besides Inuyasha, Kikyo had been closest to her when she worked at the agency. Both women were mikos, although Kaede was certainly of a lesser caliber, and they had been on good speaking terms for all of Kikyo's employment. Sometimes Kikyo even gave her lessons on how to harness mystical abilities more fully, and she had to admit the woman was a good teacher. The old woman liked to think she even knew Kikyo fairly well, as a person. Which was why she was so disturbed by this new Kikyo who had returned to her two days ago now.

Thesuper mikoKaede had known and cared for had always been cold, to be sure. Her almost inhuman mystical abilities had gained her a sort of immortalized fame that isolated Kikyo from normal social circles, and she had always felt pressured to be the best, to represent the entire miko line that had been so diminished through out the years. It had very been hard for her, Kaede knew this. Still, through it all, Kikyo had been a kind, sweet woman underneath her impassive exterior, with a love for the world and a strong sense of right and wrong. She may have been privy to some of the most underhanded happenings in all of Tokyo, but she still loved her city and the humanity she had been born into.

This Kikyo was different... or perhaps _off_ was the right word. She still looked like Kikyo, spoke like Kikyo, but there was something about her that was harder and less in tune with those around her. She didn't have that light inside her that made her instinctively want to care for the less fortunate, the light that had inspired Kaede to hire Kikyo in the first place. Something much more jaded and hard had replaced it.

'It must be the curse,' Kaede reflected sadly. 'No one can bounce back from a curse like that emotionally unscathed... not even Kikyo. Still, she is the same woman I knew all those years ago, I must work to accept her back on the force.'

"What can I do for you, Kikyo?" Kaede asked, shuffling her work together and preparing for her departure from the office. "A little late to be working, don't you think?"

"I have not been sleeping very much lately," Kikyo admitted with a shrug. "I came to see you about my partnership..."

"Ah, yes," Kaede mumbled. Kikyo had asked about this before. In fact, it was almost the first thing she asked upon returning to the agency. Would she be working with Inuyasha again? Kaede hated to admit that she thought Inuyasha and Kagome were too good a team to break up at this point in the investigation when it was so clear Kikyo wanted her old partner back. "I thought you might not have a partner, Kikyo," Kaede confessed after a beat.

"No partner?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I thought you might help me with my research and not be a field agent directly for a while, unless there is a cause for it. Some sort of dangerous situation that needs your attention."

"Are you sure that is putting my powers to good use?" Kikyo asked critically. "Would I not be better suited to working to protect potential victims?"

"Not necessarily. I think your astuteness could be put to good use helping me locate Naraku. It is extremely frustrating that we have no idea where his home base is. And besides, I don't have any free partners for you right now, and you would have to train with these people before going out on the field first," Kaede finished.

"What about Inuyasha? I have trained with him before and we made a good team. I even talked to him about it this morning and he agreed," Kikyo said firmly.

"He said he would let go of Kagome?" Kaede asked in disbelief.

"Well, no. But he admitted we were a superior team."

"I know you and Inuyasha were good Kikyo, but he and Kagome, the most recent incident aside, have got a good thing going. You and Inuyasha have not trained together in three years, and I don't think it would be a good idea to start experimenting with how compatible you are right now," Kaede explained patiently. Why was Kikyo so intent on getting Inuyasha back? Even if they reconciled their differences, would it not be awkward working with an ex? Unless...

"I thought we had discussed how foolish it was to have a green miko like Kagome Higurashi on the field," Kikyo pressed.

Unless she was not over Inuyasha, and felt threatened by Kagome's hold over the rebellious hanyou. Hm.

"Yes, I admit that it was reckless of me to hire a miko so young and untrained... however it has worked out for the best. Kagome has done me and Miroku proud in her training, and Inuyasha enjoys working with her," She was not going to walk on eggshells for Kikyo's benefit. Kagome and Inuyasha were good together, and unless something dramatic happened she was not going to change her setup for Kikyo's benefit.

Kikyo stared unblinkingly at Kaede for a minute, and at one point Kaede thought the woman might actually reach over and slap her. But then she merely sighed and got to her feet, nodding her head in acquiescence.

"All right, if that is your final decision..."

"It is. Good night, Kikyo,"

"One last thing," Kikyo paused at the door, turning her head slightly so thatKaede, hunched over her desk with her large leather suitcase, was given a view of her profile. "Do you think..." Suddenly her voice sounded raw, and honest. More like the Kikyo she had known. Kaede perked up a bit and listened closely. "Do you think that Inuyasha has become happier, lately? He seemed changed, when he talked about that girl. As though suddenly he was a different person."

"Yes," Kaede admitted flatly. This was cruel, because she knew how delicate the relationship between Kikyo and Inuyasha was just then, but she would not lie to Kikyo. It was stupid to lie about something that was plain to see. "Inuyasha was... sullen... for a long time after you left. But this past month has seen an abrupt change in him. I think it is Kagome's doing, she makes him more relaxed and happy." Kikyo tilted her head so that all Kaede could see was her shining raven hair, nodding slowly.

"Yes, I see," she murmured. "There is something about that girl ... I suppose I will see you tomorrow then,"

"Yes, have a safe trip home Kikyo."

With that Kikyo silently left the room, her face an expressionless mask once more as she briskly walked towards the elevators with not a glance backwards.

Kaede sighed. Sometimes, maintaining her agents was half the job.

OOO

Author's notes:

Wow, this turned out to be way longer than I thought it was going to be. I actually had to cut out the end of this chapter, and it was pretty dramatic, too. But I was on like, page 26 and I realized that I just couldn't fit ten more pages of writing into this one chapter. Oh well – I guess chapter thirteen is just going to be REALLY action packed. Something to look forward to. Please keep up the nice reviews – I've honestly been trying to update more, and as fast as I can.

Peace

Rio Grande


	13. Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

Hey all. Loved the passive aggressive reviews – 'Oh man! This is great! I'm so glad you updated! Because, you know, you never update like FUCKING EVER, so uh, this is really good. Yeah.' 

No, I'm just kidding. I really did like them.

I get the feeling that this fic is a little... predictable. Cute, but predictable. This sort of annoys me, but I wrote out the outline so long ago I can't really do much about it now. Still, these next two chapters I'm hoping will throw some curve balls at you jaded readers. I don't own Inuyasha, and enjoy!

OOOOOO

**Bitten**

By Rio Grande

Chapter Thirteen: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire.

OOOOOO

Kagome and Inuyasha trudged gravely over to the hanyou's shiny black Lexis the next morning, sporting equally affronted expressions as both agents flatly refused to look each other in the eye. They had met up at the office and had received instructions for their mission at nine in total silence, nearly stunning Kaede to death with their utter uncharacteristic show of complicity so early in the day.

They had suited up with none of their usual jovial comments about predictions for that mission's monster of the day ('I say it's gonna be a giant iguana demon.' 'No way. My money's on it being a SPIDER demon!' 'Inuyashaaa! Not funny!') and had said their goodbyes to an uncomfortable Sango and Miroku with false saccharine sweet smiles upon their faces.

"Your seat belt's not on," Inuyasha commented gruffly as he turned on the ignition, staring gloomily into the artificial lighting of the parking garage. Kagome primly snapped her belt into place and leaned further back into the comfortable leather seat.

"There," she replied tonelessly.

"We're supposed to be there in a half hour..."

"Take the expressway. It's the fastest route."

"Hn."

The problem was, both parties were righteously angry at each other, and both felt that the other was clearly in the wrong. However, due to the fact that neither understood what was bothering the them, both agents just came off as being intolerably rude.

'That selfish bitch. What in the hell is wrong with her?' An honestly ticked off Inuyasha wondered peevishly to himself as he glared at Kagome from the corner of one feral gold eye. 'She never came to see me – not once! What the hell is that about?'

He had assumed that when he saw Kagome that morning he had full right to be as callous and indifferent towards her as he saw fit seeing as how she had completely ignored him in his time of need, but apparently he had been wrong. As soon as he had caught sight of Kagome and started giving her the cold shoulder, she had begun to churn out some really angry, negative vibes and had been nothing less than nasty to him.

'I don't understand women,' the hanyou continued to mentally rage. 'SHE'S the one who abandoned ME, yet she still gets to be angry? How does that makes sense?'

'That selfish bastard. Does he have to be such an ass?' Kagome, catching sight of Inuyasha's none too subtle death glare, thought heatedly to herself. 'He's the one who told Kikyo I was a useless replacement and spent all day snuggling with her, mere hours after he told me he wanted to be with me more than anything else in the WORLD, and now he's acting as though I'm some sort of insignificant bug. Does he really think that little of me? I'm SORRY I shot him, okay? I was trying to save his life, and no one told him he HAD to jump in front of me.'

She huffed angrily and folded her arms obstinately across her chest, angering Inuyasha further. 'I can't believe he's just casting me off after everything we've been through because of something that stuck up miko told him. He's totally two faced!'

"Listen," Kagome barked abruptly, meeting Inuyasha's gaze with an equal amount of intensity. "Could you stop glaring at me? I can see you, you know?" Inuyasha looked momentarily taken a back, before he scowled once more and let his gaze shift back to the road.

"Whatever. Who would want to look at you, anyway?" he asked cruelly. Kagome's jaw dropped and she stared at him as though he were some sort of stranger. Was this really her Inuyasha? Was this really the man who had showered her with praises of her beauty just two nights prior?

"Jerk," she muttered under her breath, earning a fanged sneer from her partner.

Inuyasha pulled off of the expressway violently. Only fifteen more minutes until Kouga's mansion. Oddly enough, he couldn't wait. This sensationally awkward atmosphere was really starting to get to him.

"What's wrong with you, anyway?" he silver haired agent finally got out, his voice cracking. "Why the hell are YOU angry with ME?"

"Oh, no reason at all," Kagome replied, infuriatingly. There was no way she was going to let him play her for some fool. She already knew what he really thought of her now, and she wasn't going to roll over for him anymore.

"No reason at all? Then how come you didn't even visit me once in the hospital ward?" Inuyasha snapped, a bit of honest, raw hurt seeping into his tone against his will. He didn't want to admit how much her indifference was bothering him, but it was getting quite hard to deny.

"I don't know, I guess it looked like Kikyo was doing a good enough job for the both of us," Kagome said lowly.

"Kikyo, what does she have to do with _anything_?" Inuyasha asked archly, little alarm bells ringing in the back of his mind. Even though he strongly felt he had nothing to feel guilty for at that moment, hearing Kagome say Kikyo's name sent shivers down his spine. He didn't like the idea of those two getting to know each other.

"I know what she thinks of me," Kagome told him, turning to look him in the face at last. "I know she thinks I'm incompetent and useless, and that she wants to replace me."

"That's... not true," Inuyasha denied weakly. 'Well, mostly' " Besides, even if that is what she thinks, that's not what I think, so what does it matter?"

"But isn't that what you think? I heard your whole conversation with her Inuyasha. I was trying to visit you yesterday morning when I walked in on your little heart to heart. You never told me that you thought Kaede hired me as a fill in for her absence," Kagome hissed in an accusatory tone.

Relaxing and entertaining as her night in with Miroku and Sango had been, Kagome was still harboring a hell of a lot of pent up rage that had been eagerly seeking an outlet. Inuyasha looked like the perfect candidate, especially after he was the one to start their morning feud by initiating the glare-fest.

"Well, you knew that she did!" Inuyasha argued, stupidly. "After Kikyo left we needed a new miko, but couldn't find one. So then one day Kaede spotted you, and -"

"God! You are such an insensitive prick!" Kagome raged. "How could you say something like that to me after telling me all those things – saying how great a team we were, and how special I was to you?"

"I didn't mean anything bad by it!" Inuyasha yelled back, his grip tightening on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He was losing control of the conversation, if he had ever had any control to begin with, and he didn't like how Kagome was interpreting his words. Besides, why the hell had she been listening in on he and Kikyo's chat anyway? That had been private! "I DO think your special. I just meant that you were, officially, hired as a replacement! It doesn't mean that I think she's BETTER than you or anything!"

"But you do, don't you. I mean, she is. She's better than me, that's why you told her you'd be her partner again," Kagome accused softly.

"God, no! I am not going to leave you to be Kikyo's partner. I'm here, aren't I?" Inuyasha asked desperately.

"I don't know, are you? Seems to me like you'd rather be with Kikyo," Kagome murmured as Inuyasha pulled up in front of Kouga's mansion. Before Inuyasha had time to reply she had thrown open the door and was walking briskly towards the entrance of the compound, her hair swinging violently behind her. Inuyasha gaped at her retreating form.

"If you weren't so nosy, none of this would be an issue!" he yelled after her, belatedly realizing that that wasn't the most intelligent thing he could have said. Kagome idly gave him the finger without turning around. He groaned and smacked his head with his palm.

Just yesterday morning before he had spotted his ex-lover asleep by his hospital bed he had thought that everything between him and Kagome was headed on the right track. They worked so well together, and it seemed only natural for them to be a couple. Now, twenty four hours later, everything was falling apart around his ears. Kikyo had complicated things, possibly beyond all repair.

'I really wish she hadn't heard that conversation,' Inuyasha reflected bitterly as he got out of the car and locked it. 'I ... I was in shock, and there were a lot of things going on in that room that she couldn't understand.' He sighed in aggravation when he spotted Kouga greeting Kagome at the door, sweeping his would be girlfriend into a crushing hug. Great.

'I need to make amends, somehow.'

OOO "So Kagome, long time no see. How come you haven't been returning my calls?" Kouga purred lowly, wrapping an arm around Kagome's waist as he led the young agent into the (fully repaired) common room in his chambers. Behind the duo, Inuyasha stomped along angrily, glaring holes into Kouga's back as he watched the wolf daringly put his hands on Kagome. An inch lower and he would have snapped the other demon's hand off, be he potential victim or no.

"Well, I've been really busy Kouga," Kagome replied with a light giggle, pleasing the Wolf Prince by responding to his advances with an encouraging smile and a slight sway of her hips. "I'm sorry, I meant to give you a call one of these nights."

"Hey, don't worry about it. What's important is that you're here now," Kouga assured her, taking both of her hands in his and looking deep into Kagome's eyes. Kagome blushed lightly – shameless flirt or not, Kouga was certainly charming. And cute. "What do you say you come out to dinner with me tomorrow night? That should make up for it."

"Well, I don't THINK I have any other plans..." Kagome said thoughtfully, tapping her lip with one finger.

"Great. I know this really nice little Italian place on -"

"AHEM," Inuyasha coughed violently, both Kouga and Kagome turning around to observe the hanyou all but burst into angry flames as he stood staring at the obnoxious couple.

"Hu? Did you want something, little puppy?" Kouga asked snidely, cocking his head.

"WHAT did you call me?" Inuyasha demanded, taking a threatening step forward. Kagome watched both demons take offensive stances, a competitive glint in their animalistic eyes. Oh, man.

She wasn't going to lie. She knew this was all her fault. But she just couldn't help it! The second she had entered the mansion and Kouga had started being his usual flirtatious self, she simply couldn't resist using it as a chance to get back at Inuyasha for his little moment with Kikyou. Of course she understood that when Inuyasha had been with Kikyou he hadn't been purposefully parading himself around merely to make Kagome jealous, but on the other hand she hadn't agreed to replace Kouga as her new partner, either. So really, she was being quite fair.

Except that now Inuyasha really looked as though he was getting ready to fight Kouga, bearing his fangs and uttering a string of low growls that Kouga returned in kind. It was some sort of canine youkai language she could not understand, but undoubtedly translated loosely to: 'Female, MINE. You – get fuck away! I pick meat of your relatives from my teeth!'

"You guys, calm down..." Kagome urged, waving her hands about peaceably and suddenly regretting teasing Inuyasha quite so much. She hadn't meant to let things escalate to this level when they had a job to do. They were supposed to be checking out the mansion and guarding the area against Naraku, not squabbling. Besides, she hadn't thought that accepting a dinner invitation from Kouga would incite Inuyasha quite so much.

"Now listen here Kouga," Inuyasha began, jutting his chin out and preparing for a rather lengthy rant. "Kagome is not interested in you because she's with ME. You do not get to take her out on dates and you certainly do not -"

"HEY, I have an idea! Why don't you come with me, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked with a large, fake smile, taking Inuyasha by the arm and leading him out of the room before he could say anything else border line embarrassing.

"W-what are you doing?" the hanyou asked gruffly, trying to shake his way out of Kagome's vice like grip to no avail.

"Shutting you up before you humiliate me," she explained.

"How is telling people that we're together humiliating?"

"Hey Kagome, where are you going?" Kouga called after the miko, looking stricken.

"We'll be right back! Don't worry, everything is under control," Kagome replied reassuringly before slamming the door closed behind her.

Once alone in the lustrously decorated hallway Kagome turned on Inuyasha with such a disapproving look on her face that the half demon took a physical step backwards.

"What was that all about -" he began.

"Don't start," she snapped, holding her hand up and closing her eyes. "How dare you say those sort of things when you know they're not true. We are not a couple!" she accused shrilly.

"W-what do you mean we're not?" Inuyasha replied, despite his age advantage looking quite like a lost child compared to Kagome's explosive conviction. Was she suggesting that she didn't care for him anymore? Sure, yes, they were in a fight, but did that mean that the past three weeks meant nothing at all? "I thought that's what you wanted..."

"I DID want that, I STILL want that!" Kagome agreed, tears forming in her chocolate brown eyes as she continued. "I thought it was inevitable after we... we did what we did. But... I don't feel like we're a couple now!"

"Why not? Because of what you heard me say to Kikyo?" Inuyasha replied softly. He hadn't realized just how deeply Kikyo's presence had effected Kagome. Petty anger and jealousy he could deal with - he could fight against. True despair and doubt about their current relationship status he could not.

"I-it's just... you were talking to her like you never talk to me. And the things you said to her – you made it sound like you would agree to anything she wanted, and she wants you back Inuyasha. I know she does."

"I know that, too," the hanyou admitted softly, immediately afterwards realizing that the statement was true. For Kagome this seemed like another confirmation of her fears.

"And I kn-know that you guys have a past together and were a couple for much longer than we've even known each other, and I just don't see how I can compete with someone like her," Kagome admitted brokenly. "So don't talk to Kouga like that, or act all protective or angry about me flirting with some other guy when you don't even take me seriously. Not as a partner or a lover,"

Inuyasha stood completely still for a second, staring at Kagome with surprised, wide eyes that almost refused to believe what he was seeing. Kagome, confident, bright and happy Kagome admitting defeat so easily? Giving up on them just like that? He lowered his head so that his bangs covered his eyes and let out a bitter laugh.

"You wouldn't even fight for me, then?" he asked quietly. Kagome blinked, looking struck. "So my ex-girlfriend comes back and starts talking to me about relationships again and that's it? I was about to tear Kouga's throat out for you in there, Kagome. Where's the equality in this relationship?"

"I can't fight for what's not there. You don't respect me. Just this morning you came into the office acting as though I was the scum of the Earth. What am I supposed to do?" Kagome rejoined quickly, although their was a tremor of doubt in her voice now.

"I DO respect you, and the only reason I was so cold to you this morning was because I CARE about you and was angry that you didn't seem to care about me! You obviously didn't stay to listen to all of my conversation with Kikyo, did you?" Inuyasha accused heatedly, strutting forward and invading Kagome's personal space so that she was forced to backpedal.

"...Maybe not," she admitted softly.

"I didn't think so. Because if you had, you would have known that I turned Kikyo's offer for partnership down, and told her that you were already the best partner I could have. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was letting Kikyo tell me what to do, or if it seemed like I was betraying you and all that you worked for... but that's not how things went, at least not for me. I DO still respect you as my partner, you have to believe that."

Kagome was completely sobbing now for what must have been the tenth time in the past two days. She didn't even know her body could produce this many tears. God, had she been such a fool? The way Inuyasha spun it, it certainly seemed as though she had jumped to conclusions and acted brashly. It WAS cruel of her to not visit Inuyasha, and she HADN'T listened to the whole conversation. Inuyasha had been struck down quite literally taking a bullet for her – she supposed she owed him a little more trust than what she had given him.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know..." she confessed, taking his hand and stepping back towards him with her head lowered. "Thank you for saying those things. I just thought... the way you and Kikyo were talking... it wasn't like two fellow agents recounting old times. It was like two lovers being reunited."

Inuyasha sighed and pulled Kagome close against him, resting face in the crook of her neck and taking in the scent of her hair and skin – a scent he had not properly inhaled since that morning in her room. It sent pleasurable sensations through out his senses, and brought a grudging smile to his lips. Suddenly his mind felt ridiculously at ease once more. He had missed her – he had missed her too much.

"Listen, you're right. There's a bit more to the story than I'm saying. Things are not all black and white," he admitted. "Kikyo... I found out that the reason we broke up was because she was cursed by Naraku, and driven insane."

"That's terrible," Kagome gasped, pulling away and looking up into Inuyasha's eyes.

"Yeah ... she had the shikon no tama with her the whole time, and I never knew it. She kept her curse and possession of the jewel a secret from me, and it almost killed her... still, I should have been able to sense that something was wrong, that she was sick. And I didn't, and she's had to suffer for many years because of it. I was the one to let her go, and the realization made me feel guilty. Especially after how badly I treated her and how much I ... hated her.

"So if you thought I was being overly kind and complacent, well, maybe I was. I feel as though I owe her some sort of debt, and even if it doesn't seem fair to you... I feel like I have to make things up to her somehow. If she wants to take down Naraku by my side, for old time's sake, I don't really think I can deny her that."

"That makes sense..." Kagome confessed softly, looking down and wiping away the tears from her face. Suddenly she felt extremely childish – Inuyasha and Kikyo had had such a mature, painful relationship. And she had just all but thrown a tantrum in front of Inuyasha because she was spiteful of their bond. How lame.

'I'm really still just a kid... even at twenty,' she realized scornfully. 'Poor Kikyo... to go through that. No wonder she looks like such an adult.' She glanced back up at Inuyasha who was still staring at her, as though searching for her reaction, trying to gauge how she was handling all of this new information. 'I wonder if he is just as mature as that inside. I've never noticed it, if he is,' she thought dryly. 'Still, he must have had to go through a lot...'

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked cautiously, watching a variety of strong emotions pass over the girl's features.

"I'm sorry," she finally sighed, shaking her head. "I feel stupid now..." Inuyasha looked momentarily surprised. That was it? He had won?

"Yeah, you should," he agreed quickly, wincing when Kagome's grip tightened threateningly on his arm. "Just kidding... I mean... don't feel stupid. This whole situation DOES suck, no matter how you say it."

"But it's not like you can do anything... and I haven't been helping..."

"You don't have to do anything," Inuyasha assured her, brushing her bangs away from her forehead and grinning. "Just be yourself."

"Okay..." she agreed shyly, unable to repress a small smile of her own as Inuyasha leaned down and kissed her tenderly. It was a kiss unlike any one they had shared before, filled with regret and apologies. It was not the kiss of two young lovers overcome by passion, but of two people trying to search their way through an unsettling situation, blindly feeling through a whole set of problems.

'I still feel so upset...' Kagome realized as she continued to lick and kiss Inuyasha's lips, clinging to him fervently. 'I still feel really sad about things. This kiss is more consolatory than loving...'

"I'm sorry, too," Inuyasha whispered to her after pulling away, confirming Kagome's idea about the nature of their kiss. "I didn't mean to confuse you like this. It's not fair for you to have to deal with all of my baggage,"

"I'm considering it punishment for being insensitive," Kagome informed him in an attempt at joviality. "Ha, imagine that. I was being insensitive to your problems and you were being considerate with Kikyo."

"Yeah, it's a little odd..." Inuyasha agreed with a light laugh, rubbing his head. Suddenly he froze, his eyes wide and unblinking as he began to sniff the air around them. Kagome noticed and straightened her posture.

"What's wrong, do you sense a demon?" she asked quickly. She had practically forgotten they were supposed to be guarding Kouga's mansion. Hell, she had forgotten that they were IN Kouga's mansion! What if some demon had tried to attack while they were busy making out? 'How unprofessional...'

"No, it's not a demon," Inuyasha replied in an oddly weak voice. "I think it's... Kikyo."

"Oh."

The couple stood staring at each other in awkward silence for a beat, Kikyo's perfect timing hitting them both and rendering them momentarily speechless. It was clear to both of them Inuyasha wanted to go see her, just as it was clear that Kagome did not and didn't quite yet feel comfortable around the other miko.

"I should... go see what she wants," Inuyasha admitted with a helpless shrug. "I know this is a lame way to end our conversation, but it could be news from the agency and -"

"It's okay," Kagome assured him, waving off his explanations. She didn't want to hear them and, additionally, was still feeling slightly ashamed about her earlier blathering and didn't want to seem like more of a jealous bitch. "Go. I'll just... start staking out the mansion and checking for mystical disturbances or something."

"All right. And thanks... for... everything," he said lamely, backing away and averting his overly emotional gaze. Kagome nodded in reply, turning around before he saw her do something bad like hold back an angry sob.

She listened to his retreating footsteps carefully, standing perfectly still and willing herself to keep her composure. This was neither the time nor the place for another breakdown, even though what she wanted to do most right then was collapse onto a nice comfy bed and have herself a good cry. She wanted to cry for how stupid she had been, for how much she had hurt Inuyasha, for how incomplete their relationship still seemed, and for her fear that they might never regain the happy innocence they had had such a good hold on just the other night...

"Hello?" she asked abruptly, spinning on her heal and peering down the long hall that led to the East Wing of the mansion, furrowing her brow.

She sensed something approaching her slowly, and it was giving her a bone deep chill. Hesitantly she started forward, building up the courage to investigate the disturbance alone when there was no reply to her query.

OOO

Inuyasha found Kikyo standing alone in the mansion's garden, lounging near the fountain he had been at when he had spotted a couch fly out of Kouga's bedroom window. The sky was a dull gray, with heavy clouds that held the threat of snow. She was wearing a long red peacoat with a white blouse and khaki slacks, her head tipped upwards. Upon spotting him she smiled kindly, beckoning for him to come closer. Her hair was held back in a low pony tail.

"What's wrong?" he asked, jogging up to her with a concerted look on his features. It had been a hectic past few hours, to put it lightly, and he didn't know if he could handle more bad news from the agency.

"Nothing yet..." Kikyo replied quietly, putting her hands in her pockets, presumably to stave off the biting cold that Inuyasha did not seem to notice. In the natural light her skin seemed even paler than it had yesterday. "I felt an ominous presence and came over to see if I could help."

"An ominous presence, what sort of presence?" Inuyasha asked guardedly, his eyes flicking all around as though scanning the skies for large monsters. Jeez, Kikyo was good at these rescue mission things.

"I am not positive, as of yet," Kikyo confessed. "But I know something connected to Naraku is coming. Could Kagome not detect it?"

"Well, she didn't say anything," Inuyasha replied vaguely. Kikyo frowned lightly, walking slowly to the side, her eyes never leaving Inuyasha's.

"You still have not reconsidered my offer for partnership?" she asked smoothly, as though the interjection were entirely timely.

"Uh – what? No, I haven't," Inuyasha replied, taken off guard. "Listen... is this really the time or place to talk about this? If you think an evil presence is on its way maybe we should go find Kouga." Mentally he winced as he thought of Kagome's reaction to seeing him and Kikyo rush in to battle together, and then all out cringed at the thought of actually having to save Kouga's pathetic ass.

"Inuyasha, that girl is clearly not fit to fight with you. Believe me when I say I am looking out for your well being as well as hers when I caution you about your partnership," Kikyo replied, pretty much ignoring his last statement. Inuyasha sighed and massaged a growing ache between his eyes. Great. Just what he needed. More confrontations.

"And I appreciate the sentiment Kikyo, but I don't think you have to worry. You haven't worked with Kagome like I have – you don't know what she is capable of."

"You think she is capable of great power?"

"Yes," Inuyasha affirmed, his confidence on the matter perhaps spurred by all of the declarations he had just made to Kagome herself minutes earlier.

"I see... but do you not understand how it would make ME feel more at ease if I was the one by your side?" Kikyo asked, stepping forward and staring Inuyasha boldly in the eye. "I know I have the ability to help you. I cannot be sure she does."

"I know you do, too, but..."

"So then why not trust me and accept my offer?" Kikyo asked bluntly. "What is it about this girl that draws you to her? Do you care for her so much you would scorn me after I came back to this country to see you? Why HER? Does she remind you of me, before I returned a changed woman ... I know I have become colder, more detatched, but I..."

"No, no..." Inuyasha assured her, taking her by the arm as she began to turn away, suddenly feeling shamed. "That's not it. I don't think you've changed so much. I still like you." And it was true, being around Kikyo did bring back fond memories for him. Just seeing her like this, her hair blowing in the chilly winter wind reminded him of a Christmas they had spent together not so long ago. But...

"Then why do you act so differently towards me, even after I explained my situation and why we were separated?"

"Kikyo, I'm sorry, but things just aren't so easy," Inuyasha admitted, tightening his grip subtly. "We can't just go back to the way we were before Naraku showed up. I can't bend my emotions like that. I... I'm at a different point in my life right now." God, why did it hurt so much to say these things?

"It's because of that girl, it's because of Kagome," she said almost to herself, lowering her head. When Inuyasha did not reply Kikyo continued on in an eerily flat tone. "Do you think she is cut out for this life, truly? Do you think it is right to make her live in a world full of such malicious demons? Even for an enlightened human she is living closer to danger than most by taking up this occupation."

"I..." Inuyasha murmured, unable to reply. What could he say? It was true – Kagome WAS in imminent peril more often than she should be.

"She is so young Inuyasha. Decades younger than you. Do you think she is strong enough to help you shoulder your burdens, or to even survive? You know I can help you Inuyasha. You and I, we are cut of the same material. Outcasts. Powerful outsiders... does she know you like I know you?"

"I don't know," Inuyasha confessed freely, straightening his posture. "All I know is, for some reason, I have faith in her. And she makes me happy – she makes me feel good about myself, and more at ease than I have ever been in my entire life." He told Kikyo these things frankly and while looking her in the eye, showing more emotional backbone than the priestess had thought he possessed. She narrowed her eyes.

"All very sweet sentiments, but I'll ask you again: can she survive, Inuyasha?" Suddenly Kikyo whipped her head to the side, piercing her pale lips. "For your sake I certainly hope so ..."

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked, sensing a double meaning in Kikyo's darkly spoken words.

"...I hope so, because the presence I felt earlier has come upon her."

OOO

The sound of softly clinking glass urged Sesshomaru to complete the laborious task of opening his heavy lidded eyes. His surroundings were fuzzy, and he had to blink the world into focus. Interesting. He must have been truly out to be this disoriented now, and he was never truly out. He didn't think he had actually gone to sleep in a few years now. Such acts were a necessity only for lowly mortals, after all. And it wasn't exactly as though he had the time to rest. He was a busy man.

He was in a hospital room – another first. He had never been to a hospital... ever. Why would he need to? He hadn't been injured enough to need medical assistance since he had been but a pup.

The softly clinking glass came from the mug of steaming tea and teapot positioned somewhere to his right, where a small human girl with wild black hair and freckles was preparing herself what smelled like traditional green tea. Her movements were quick and shaky, as though she were nervous or waiting for something. Her light brown eyes were tinged with exhaustion.

"Oh!" she gasped, her cup sliding from her fingers in shock as she caught and met his intense golden gaze. Without blinking, Sesshomaru shot his right hand out and caught the cup without letting a drop of liquid spill over the side. The girl stared at him with awe until she realized his hand was still stretched out, proffering her the tea. He raised an inquiring eyebrow at her, and she quickly collected her drink.

"I-I'm sorry..." the girl, who seemed oddly familiar for some reason, stuttered quietly.

Hm. Why in God's name was there a young mortal girl by his hospital bed? Where were his attendees? His ever present secretary – Jaken? Just where was he, and why was his mind insisting that he had met this odd human before?

'She smells familiar... and her voice. Bells. Why am I thinking of bells?' a horribly befuddled Sesshomaru thought to himself darkly. Of course, his face was a mask of pure serenity, belying none of his disjointed thoughts.

"Who are you?" Sesshomaru asked point blank, giving himself a mental pat on the back when his voice came out in its usual strong baritone. He was currently in an extremely vulnerable situation with a foreign human; the least he could do was sound confident.

"I'm Rin Hayaka," Rin quickly supplied, a vaguely worried look passing over her bright features. "Don't you remember me?"

'You must be another potential victim, like me ... Don't worry, I'll make sure you're taken care of. We victims have to stick together...'

Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly as all of his memories from the past twenty four hours assaulted him with a vengeance, from the unprecedented attack on his private offices in the city to the odd incident with this very girl at her penthouse in midtown. He had gone down protecting her from a harpy demon. Of course, how could he have forgotten?

'She smells like wild flowers,' he thought idly as the smell of disinfectant gave way to a much more pleasing aroma when Rin leaned in closer to him, frowning.

"Mr. Sesshomaru?" she inquired politely after he failed to reply to her earlier query.

"I... remember you," Sesshomaru confessed almost grudgingly.

"I'm so glad," Rin said, giving off a sigh of relief. "This could have been really awkward if you hadn't!" Sesshomaru threw her a disparaging look that said: 'And it isn't already?' Just what was she doing there, anyway?

He could hardly move he was so drained and his youki was still healing itself. He was in no mood to be virtually alone in an unfamiliar place with some crazy human girl. He had lived his life on the principle that being unprepared in situations such as these was what got good demons exterminated.

"How long have I been out? Has anyone come for me?" he asked briskly, raising himself up onto his elbows slowly. Rin followed his movements with worried eyes, repressing the urge to push him back down onto his bed. Something told her that wouldn't go over so well.

"You've been in a coma for around one day now, and you've had various... acquaintances come over to see you. One very persistent friend, in particular," she muttered almost bitterly.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru stated without having to think about it. "He is not a friend. He is an employee."

"An employee? Oh, what do you do?" Rin asked brightly, smiling at the thought of getting to learn more about this mysterious demon she had just spent many hours watching over. What sort of a job could he possibly have that would reacquire the assistance of an ugly demon toad that had such a sharp tongue?

"I am an attorney," Sesshomaru explained, flexing his claws experimentally. Rin nodded. Ah, yes, of course.

Practically since the second she had entered Sesshomaru's hospital room the small, faithful amphibian Jaken had been attempting to get Rin thrown out of the building. He raged at her that Mr. Sesshomaru would not want a human girl with a ten mile radius of him when he awoke, and that if she knew what was good for her she would thank her lucky stars he hadn't struck her down when they first met and be on her way. But she had been persistent in her desire to stick with Sesshomaru until he awoke, seeing as how it was her house he and collapsed in and she was partially the reason he had become so injured. She had defied Jaken and various body guards to stay in the room, for the first time in her life throwing around her parent's prestigious title to get what she wanted.

'He doesn't seem to hate me so much now, does he?' she thought triumphantly. 'He's just a bit disoriented.'

Sesshomaru noted the small cot on the other side of the room that looked as though it had been recently used. A quick cursory sniff told him Rin had slept in it.

"You stayed with me the whole while?" he asked, a bit of shock entering his tone unwillingly.

"Of course I did," Rin said firmly. "I owe you my life! You saved me from that demon when you were grievously injured. I couldn't just leave you after that."

"I already told you, that was nothing," Sesshomaru explained honestly.

"No, it wasn't nothing. I'm very thankful to you," Rin insisted, lowering her head and blushing lightly. Sesshomaru regarded her carefully.

"Well, thank... you. For staying," he replied, his tone clearly strained. He was not used to being forced to thank anyone outside of a work setting. Rin's head shot up at these brief words, her smile literally blinding him. He looked away in discomfort when she refused to break eye contact. What was with this child? Why wasn't she afraid of him? She looked to be quite young, perhaps in her late teens, and yet she was not cowering in fear as most sensible mortals did when faced with his awesome presence.

'Although, I suppose I am not exactly a figure to be reckoned with at this moment...'

"Mr. Sesshomaru, I wanted to -" Rin began almost hesitantly, when the door to the room slammed loudly open and Jaken scurried over in his extra large brown suit.

"Mr. Sesshomaru!" he cried in an ear piercing squeak, Sesshomaru wincing as the demon knelt by his bed side. "You're AWAKE!"

"Yes," Sesshomaru agreed absently, nodding his head slightly.

"I am sorry I was not here when you came to, Mr. Sesshomaru, but your clients have been calling non stop and I had to step out to take some messages. Everyone is very worried!" Jaken explained, looking quite stressed.

'Worried... I'm sure. They just don't want to lose any money over me. I've never had a sick day,' Sesshomaru reflected spitefully.

"May I have my messages, then?" Sesshomaru asked, settling back and preparing to listen. For a moment he forgot that Rin was even still in the room.

"Oh, Mr. Sesshomaru you've only been up for ten minutes! Are you positive you need to concern yourself with work right now?" she asked, effectively reestablishing herself in his consciousness.

"Mr. Sesshomaru is the most powerful demon attorney in the city! He knows what he is doing, and you are not to speak to him in such a presumptuous manner!" Jaken hollered righteously at the teenager as she stared worriedly at Sesshomaru's unusually pale countenance.

"I just don't want him to overexert himself! The doctor's said he was very badly drained in his fight and he would need to recuperate for a few days, at least!" Rin explained hotly, glaring at the toad.

"I will be fine, Rin. I am a demon and my recuperating abilities are far superior to a human's. My work is very important, and it is imperative I know what has taken place in my... absence," Sesshomaru cut in smoothly, effectively stunning Jaken into silence as he deigned to explain himself to the tiny high school girl. What was going on?

"Well, okay..." Rin sighed softly, not looking entirely satisfied.

'Wait... drained,' Sesshomaru thought to himself while Jaken collected his bearings. 'Drained... There's something I was supposed to be doing. Something that I had to tell... Inuyasha. Something important.'

Abruptly Sesshomaru sat straight up in bed, startling his two guests. His fists clutched the bed sheets tightly as he realized what he was supposed to be doing. The knowledge that he had just wasted the past ten minutes NOT doing this spurred his sense of urgency.

"Get me Inuyasha, or Kaede. I need to speak to them immediately," he barked.

"Sir – what is wrong?" Jaken asked, hopping nervously from foot to foot.

"Just get them!"

As Jaken dashed away without another word, Rin took Sesshomaru's hand in hers, just as she had done the previous day, a frown line appearing between her brows. Sesshomaru stared at their hands in fascination. The steady beat of her pulse against his skin was lulling him back into a sense of relaxation. What did she think she was doing?

"Are you all right, Mr. Sesshomaru?" she asked softly. "Have you remembered what you were trying to tell your brother before you passed out?"

"Yes," he confirmed, looking her in the eye and momentarily forgetting his objective once more when he found himself inspecting the subtle nuances of color in her irises. This girl was driving him crazy.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be all right," she assured him confidently.

"All right Sesshomaru, what is it? What is so important?" Kaede asked loudly as she was roughly ushered into the room by an over zealous Jaken minutes later. "Good to see you up and about, by the way," she added with a rather obvious bit of 'I told you so' ness to her tone.

"Where is Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked, unable to believe he was actually demanding the hated hanyou's attendance. Things really were out of wack.

"He's on a mission, why?"

"A Naraku related mission?"

"Yes... why do you ask? What do you know?" the agent pressed cautiously.

"Dammit," Sesshomaru cursed softly, turning his head to the side. "He won't stand a chance..."

"Is whatever demon who did this to you still out and about?" Kaede asked in partial shock, staring worriedly at Sesshomaru's slightly battered form. She had assumed for Sesshomaru to end up so beaten the other demon would be old news. Apparently not.

"Yes, both of them. At my offices I was assaulted by both Naraku himself and the newest addition to his army... a demon named Kanna," Sesshomaru explained curtly.

"We were informed of her existence by our miko Kikyo. She has the power to deflect attacks with her mirror, correct? Is that what you wanted to warn Inuyasha of?"

"No. That is merely part of her ability. Her real power is much more destructive. When I was fighting Naraku she caught me by surprise..." Sesshomaru told this part of his tale with a strained look on his features, as though it physically pained him to admit that anyone could sneak up on him. "... because her very presence is the absence of a presence, and she is thus impossible to detect. She used that cursed mirror of hers and drained me of my soul."

"Your soul?" Kaede asked in shock, as Rin gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth. "But then how is it you are still alive?"

"She was not able to finish her attack – I wounded Naraku enough to make an escape. As a demon I have the ability to do this. However, any human or half demon who comes up against her will be less fortunate," he finished, letting the implications of his words hang in the air. Kaede blinked into the silence for a minute before collecting herself and nodding once.

"Right. I will inform Inuyasha of this, now," she said. "Thank you for your assistance,"

"Hn,"

Rin watched Kaede leave with worried eyes, turning to Sesshomaru once she was gone.

"Oh, do you think Inuyasha and Kagome will be all right?" she asked softly, feeling a certain protectiveness over her two ex-guardians.

After remembering just who Kagome was, Sesshomaru frowned darkly and turned away, the gears working in his head. This Naraku problem had gone on for too long, and now it was effecting his business and private life. It had to end. Naraku's powers were becoming too strong due to that damned cheat jewel.

"Perhaps."

OOO

His heart pounding in his ears, Inuyasha all but flew back into the mansion after hearing Kikyo's words. He wasn't even entirely sure what she was talking about, all he knew was this – Kagome was in some sort of danger, and that meant he had to be at her side, NOW.

Skidding around a corner, he found himself back in the hallway where he had last spoken to his partner. She was no longer there, however the discovery came as no great surprise. She was supposed to be checking out the compound. Picking up her scent, still bitterly laced with salt tears from their last conversation, he followed Kagome's unintentional trail down the long carpeted hallway, keeping his eyes pealed.

She had wandered far away, and he was forced to hurriedly jog down two flights of stairs and tear down three more corridors before the sounds of a fight reached his ears. Not bothering to slow from his breakneck speed Inuyasha barreled through the large doors behind which the sounds of carnage were coming, and Kagome's scent was strongest.

"KAGOME!" he shouted in fear, immediately spotting her form crumpled in a corner of the large study. She was gracefully splayed on the ground, her raven locks positioned dramatically around her face – and she didn't seem to be breathing.

Oh God. It was worse than he had feared.

Distantly feeling something in the back of his mind snap, Inuyasha's focus was transferred swiftly over to the other occupants of the room, his glare nothing less than homicidally accusatory. Luckily for him, he already had an extreme predisposition to hate the two people his crimson tinged gaze fell upon.

Kouga and Kanna were locked in an odd sort of battle, that was no less fierce for its uniqueness. Kouga was pelting the small demon child with an endless succession of kicks and punches, his large fangs bared and a gargled string of screams being ripped from his throat. Kanna was, in return, holding her glowing mirror in front of her while seeming to glide away from every one of Kouga's strikes. And each time Kouga attempted to hit her he jerked back in pain, deflected by her magical talisman. This didn't meant he ever let up his assault however, and the effect would have been slightly humorous were it not so obvious that Kouga was having serious damage done to him.

"OOF!" Kouga gasped as one particularly savage punch was dolled back at him tenfold, causing him to fly into a desk twenty feet away. He was still airborne when Inuyasha stepped into the fray, seething with rage.

Unable to form words, Inuyasha merely slammed down on Kanna's mirror with his transformed tetsusaiga, choosing to either forget or not care about the fact that last time he had tried this trick he had ended up with a slit belly.

However, after Inuyasha's blade connected with the glowing mirror, something odd happened. As though attempting to absorb the power behind the forceful connection the mirror sputtered and glowed brighter... but did not send the attack back. Inuyasha stood in place, hunched over and clutching his weapon, watching as Kanna looked down curiously at her mirror. Wisps of light were escaping out of it and flowing into the air like an overflowing bowl of soup.

Off to the side Kagome twitched and groaned, and Inuyasha quickly turned to look at her. Kanna hugged her mirror closer to herself and lowered her head, and the outward flow of magic stopped. So did Kagome's spasms.

Putting two and two together Inuyasha slowly began to stalk towards Naraku's spawn, lowly growling.

"You... what did you do to her with that damned mirror?" he hissed. Kanna slowly began to glide backwards, staring at him blankly. "Oh no you don't, come back here!" Inuyasha howled, moving forwards faster. However, in a second Kanna had faded into the shadows of the study, her body darkening and dimming until she was entirely gone. Inuyasha slammed into the empty space where she should have been, a look of shock written on his features.

"Where did she... go?" he asked brokenly, as though refusing to believe he had let the girl escape right from under his nose.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha spun around, catching sight of Kouga crawling towards his partner's fallen form and cradling her in his lap. "Open your eyes... say something!" the wolf prince urged desperately. Inuyasha swallowed in fear when Kagome did not respond to Kouga's pleas, quickly starting forward.

"What's wrong with you, dog turd?" Kouga growled, looking up at Inuyasha with murder in his eyes as the hanyou drew nearer. "Where were you when she was attacked? I found her like this nearly ten minutes ago, that creepy albino standing above her with that damned mirror. Why weren't you with her? Aren't you supposed to look out for each other?"

Inuyasha said nothing, merely dropping to his knees and staring down at Kagome's slackened features, unable to come up with a good retort when his heart and mind were in such a panic. Just what had Kanna done to her? There weren't any physical wounds on her body, she was just unconscious.

"I always knew you were no good for her. What sort of a sad excuse for a demon can't protect their woman?" Kouga sneered. At this Inuyasha perked up, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"Shut up Kouga," he snapped flatly, wrenching the small miko from the wolf prince's tanned arms and swiftly getting to his feet with her. "I've got to take her to the agency, now. I don't know what's wrong with her, but her heart rate is too low. It sounds like she's... she's..." Unable to say it sounded like Kagome was about to kick the bucket aloud, the hanyou settled for growling in frustration and quickly turning away, marching up to the nearest window and throwing it open with one hand.

"Hey, wait for me!" Kouga yelled, following after the hanyou. "I have more right to stay with her than you do!"

"Whatever," Inuyasha muttered curtly as he took to the air, too panicked to be annoyed with Kouga's incessant demands.

'Be okay. You have to be okay. I won't be able to ever forgive myself if you're not okay. I won't be able to do anything if you're not okay...'

OOO

Some hours later, Kanna found herself seated on the rooftop tennis court of a fancy apartment building in Tokyo. Huddled near the net with her still malfunctioning mirror, the small demon peered into her weapon's face with what constituted as a worried expression upon her features.

That miko... she had done this. Everything had been going smoothly until she tried to finish that girl off. She had come to the mansion just as Naraku ordered and sought out the college student, finding her wonderfully alone. She had isolated herself in a wing of the house with Kanna all too easily, and had quickly backed herself into a corner by leveling a gun at her.

Of course realizing that it would be terrifically stupid to fire at Kanna after what had happened last time, Kagome had stood still long enough for Kanna's power of persuasion to work over her. The demon planted a suggestion in Kagome's mind that she was weak and that Inuyasha did not need her as a partner. He would much rather have that other, scarier miko, Kikyo, at his side.

At first Kanna couldn't believe how well everything was turning out. The girl, Kagome, was still emotionally distraught from a draining argument she had previously had with the hanyou and was seriously doubting herself in almost all departments. It had been child's play to gain control of her mind and force her into a state of incapacitating depression. She hadn't even blinked as Kanna had begun to suck her dry of her soul.

Soon the girl had collapsed to the floor and her soul was pouring out of her freely. Kanna remembered thinking that she had never seen a soul quite this powerful or large before, but had not thought it would matter – her mirror had collected hundreds of souls and there hadn't been a problem yet. However, it was when she thought she was on the final lap with the girl's essence that something went wrong.

There was a terrific crunching sound and the demon looked down in muted shock to see a fine crack making its way across the face of her mirror. Immediately some of the soul she had been collecting started to spill out, and Kanna backed away in surprise, attempting to regain control of her talisman.

By the time she had stuffed what she had managed to take of Kagome's soul back into her mirror, the wolf prince had barged into the room looking for a fight. In the beginning he had been disappointed to find that Kagura was not around, but when he caught sight of the fallen miko he had seemed all too eager to have a go at Kanna.

Sighing to herself and fingering the crack lightly with one tiny finger, Kanna wondered what she was supposed to do now. Return to Naraku and ask for advice? She certainly couldn't go back to finish off the miko with her mirror in its current condition. Aside from her neat disappearing trick she didn't really have very many other attack moves without her mirror to aid her.

"THERE she is!" a voice bellowed from somewhere above Kanna. Looking up in confusion, the albino started to her feet when she caught sight of a giant, flaming demon cat headed her way. Two mortals sat atop its back, and both seemed as though they were out for blood.

Narrowly dodging what looked to be a huge boomerang, Kanna leapt to the side. The cat landed gracefully on the roof and the two riders dismounted promptly, sliding into attack stances, the boomerang swinging its way back into the female's hands.

"Be careful Sango, we're still not sure exactly what her power is – we don't want what happened to Kagome to happen to us," Miroku cautioned his partner, holding his staff in front of him protectively.

"There's no time to worry about that! Every second we waste could mean Kagome's death!" Sango cried, rushing forward with no hesitance. Letting out a loud war cry she chucked her boomerang at Kanna once more, only at a much closer distance so the child had less time to physically dodge the projectile.

Raising her mirror, Kanna braced herself and depended on her talisman to do what it was supposed to do as Sango's weapon was hurled at her. Luckily for her, it did, and Sango found herself skidding across the green court with a boomerang crushing her ribs.

"AHH!"

"Sango!" Miroku cried in anger as Kirara hurried over to her fallen mistress. Turning back to Kanna, Miroku frowned disapprovingly at the small youkai. Whipping what looked to be a spell scroll from his jacket pocket he rushed forward with the thin piece of paper between his index and middle finger. He leapt into the air and slapped the spell onto Kanna's mirror, whispering an ancient incantation as he did so. Jumping backwards, the monk stopped to assess what damage he had been able to inflict.

The mirror was glowing wildly again and Kanna was staring at it worriedly. After a second the crack in the corner grew larger, stretching towards the center of the face. Letting out an aggravated breath Kanna held the mirror higher up in front of her, concentrating. Oh well, she supposed there was nothing else to do.

Slowly, the almost blindingly bright soul she had collected oozed out of the mirror, traveling into the sky and away with a sigh. Miroku stared at it in fascination, hoping that had just been what he thought it was.

Her mirror thus emptied, Kanna began to edge backwards into the shadows, her head bowed.

'Oh man,' she thought idly to herself. 'Naraku's gonna flip a shit.'

"Ung... Miroku? Did you get her?" Sango called weakly from across the court as Miroku helplessly observed Kanna disappear into thin air. Kirara was kneeling over her, licking her face comfortingly.

"Uhh... not quite, but I think we did what we came to do," Miroku confessed, quickly jogging over to Sango and throwing her boomerang off of her. He helped her to sit up and the exterminator winced in pain. "You must have cracked a rib or two. How do you feel?"

"Fine. What do you mean you did what we came here to do? Did you get Kanna or not?" Sango persisted, staring Miroku down.

"Well, she disappeared again, but before that I was able to attack her mirror with a spell scroll – it caused the mirror to malfunction again as Inuyasha described, and eventually she seemed to just... empty it."

"So you think...?"

"That she released Kagome's soul, yes," Miroku confirmed.

"Well, only one way to find out," Sango muttered nervously, reaching into her pocket and taking out her cell phone. Quickly she dialed Kaede's number, gnawing on her lower lip as she waited for the old woman to pick up.

"Yes?" Kaede's voice crackled over the line. She sounded distracted.

"Kaede, this is Sango. Miroku and I just tangled with Kanna, and Miroku thinks he may have damaged Kanna's mirror enough to free Kagome's soul. What is her status?"

"Miroku was right – Kagome is stable again. Good job," Kaede congratulated, true relief in her voice.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Sango cried, hanging up and throwing her arms around Miroku's shoulders. As tears formed in the bounty hunter's gray eyes Miroku stroked her back soothingly, a winning smile on his own features as well. "We did it Miroku! We were so lucky to find her here... I was so afraid-!"

"Shhh... I know, but everything is okay now," Miroku cooed, hugging Sango closer to him as she continued to let out her nervousness, while being careful of her ribs.

"If she had never woken up, I don't know what I would have done..." Sango murmured into Miroku's neck, causing shivers to run down the monk's spine. Did she realize she was so close to him? Did she care? Was this just a sort of post trauma reaction? He willed his hands to stray no lower than her shoulder blades, realizing this was a crucial moment.

"Well, we better get back to the agency. I want to see her," Sango sighed, pulling away with a small smile on her face. Miroku nodded, still a little too shocked to form coherent thoughts.

Soon they were both atop Kirara again, Miroku insisting he sit behind Sango with his arms wrapped around her waist so he could support her and her injured ribs were she to lose her balance. Shockingly, the pony tailed agent did not refuse his offer, and the rest of the trip back was spent with Miroku reveling in the way Sango's toned stomach and hips felt under his hands.

All things considered, today had been a good day.

OOO

When Kagome finally opened her eyes it was not with the natural grogginess and slight disorientation most suffered after awakening from a coma. In fact, compared to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's muddled reintroduction to the world she was practically god-like in her adaptation to her surroundings. One second she was lying in a bed in the hospital ward of the agency, and the next second she was sitting straight up with her eyes wide open. Her posture was tense and her expression slightly dumbstruck, but she seemed entirely healthy.

'What am I doing here?...' she thought to herself contemplatively, observing the white walls Inuyasha had been forced to gaze at for twelve consecutive hours very recently. It seemed as though she had been spending an unprecedented amount of time in the hospital ward, which was very rarely a good sign. 'I haven't done anything terribly stupid lately, have I?...'

Almost instantaneously images of herself rushing into an isolated room with Kanna, guns blazing, entered her head. She rolled her eyes and nearly smacked herself.

'Oh, right.'

"Kagome."

The sound of her name startled Kagome from her introspective stupor, and urged her to turn to the side. Her guarded expression instantly melted into one of adoration and thankfulness as she met her partner's inquisitive golden gaze. Inuyasha was there. He was there to see her wake up.

'This must be love,' Kagome thought dreamily as she graced Inuyasha with an award winning smile that made him avert his stare worriedly.

"You stayed with me..." she murmured, her voice dry.

"Yeah, well, we were all really worried," he replied nonchalantly. Not exactly the sort of reply she had been going for but, hell, she wasn't going to complain. He had done for her what she had been unable to do for him, and she wanted to smother him with kisses for it.

"What happened to me, anyway?" Kagome asked, brushing some curly locks away from her neck with one hand and letting the other one snake out to grab Inuyasha's clawed digits. The hanyou bit his lip and squeezed her hand reassuringly in response, before abruptly pulling away and folding his arms over his broad chest.

"You were attacked by Kanna..." he began hesitantly.

"Yeah, I got that."

"... and she sucked your soul from your body with her mirror," he finished, his tone suddenly flat.

"Oh, my," Kagome muttered, putting a hand to her mouth. "Well – wait. I think I still have a soul now. Did you get it back for me? Was I dead?" The thought that she had been deceased, even for a brief period of time,gave Kagome heart palpitations. A pained look washed over the hanyou's features and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair by her bedside. All of this went unnoticed by Kagome who was waiting with baited breath for him to tell her the story of the attack she could not recall.

"No you were never... dead," he said as though the words left a nasty taste in his mouth. "Not officially. You had a good portion of your soul sucked out before ... well, before it started to overflow the mirror. Kanna was not able to take all of your essence from you before she retreated. We're not sure why this happened, exactly. Later, Sango and Miroku cornered Kanna on a roof, and after Miroku attacked her mirror she was forced to release your soul... at least, that's what Kaede tells me. This all happened about five minutes ago."

"Five minutes..." Kagome breathed in awe. "So I wasn't out for that long?"

"No... and it looks like you woke up almost as soon as your soul was released," Inuyasha admitted. The girl looked relieved, glad she had not lost much time in the hospital. "But, Kagome..."

"What is it?" Kagome asked curiously, as though for the first time noticing the dark pain in the hanyou's eyes, and the unhappy tilt to his lips. Not his usual arrogant sneer, or fiery frown, but a truly despondent grimace. Something was wrong. Kagome reached out to try and touch her half demon lover again, but he pulled away and abruptly got to his feet. Staring at the floor, he seemed to mull over some words for a minute before speaking.

"I've requested to have you taken off of the case," he stated in as unemotional a tone as Kagome had ever heard him use. "I'm sorry, but you've become too much of a liability. I can't have you as my partner anymore."

Kagome stared at him, slack jawed and trembling. What?

"W-wait Inuyasha. How can you say that? We ... we just had a talk about this very subject today. You told me you trusted me and wanted me as your partner. Don't you remember? You..."

"Yes, I remember," Inuyasha assured her, finally looking up and revealing his over bright golden eyes, that were none the less determined to finish what he had come to do. "But that was then and this is now. You almost died Kagome, and I only left you alone for less than an hour. With this case coming to such a head, I can't afford to worry about you anymore. I need to focus now, I need -"

"Kikyo," Kagome replied dully, hanging her head and suddenly feeling quite chilled. "You need Kikyo. She's going to be your new partner, isn't she?"

"I never said that. Nothing's been decided," Inuyasha argued, his voice not very confident. "Maybe I'll be working alone. Anyway, this isn't about her. This is about you. You've done a great job, but this sort of work is just out of your league. There's no shame in that, either, it's just imperative that you understand that you can't be involved in the case anymore."

"How can I not be?" Kagome asked shrilly, shifting onto her knees and leaning towards him, her eyes panicked. "How can I not be involved in the case when it's already been established that I'm a target for Naraku?"

"You'll be at less risk if you stay out of his business and this case. We'll have agents monitoring your apartment, and school, in any case. And you'll have our number as well," he explained, his voice strained. "Just... you just can't fight anymore, understand?"

"No I DON'T understand!" Kagome cried, her voice painfully thick. "Inuyasha, you can't mean this! _Don't do this_! I want to fight Naraku with you, too!"

"But you just can't. You can't do that Kagome – you're not strong enough!" he insisted, gaining a frustrated edge to his tone. "Just accept it and stay out of it."

"What about you? Will I see you again?" Her tone was desperate, needy. She was like a hungry dog looking for scraps.

"Maybe... when the case is over. But right now it wouldn't be a good idea to associate with me, when I'm so involved with Naraku," Inuyasha explained in what Kagome supposed he considered a consolatory tone of voice. Tears began to stream down her face like hot rivers.

"S-so, my apartment?.." she asked weakly, resigned.

"I'll move out. And Shippou will, too. We want to move all possible connections to Naraku away from you."

"God dammit Inuyasha! This never would have happened if she wasn't here! Before she came you were – we were -" Abruptly Kagome cut herself off and turned away, hugging her shaking shoulders and realizing that she sounded like a petulant child again. This was just what she had told herself she would not do. Throw another fit, meddle where she shouldn't. Inuyasha was being mature, Kikyo had been mature, and she was just messing things up once more...

"Please," she whispered. "Please reconsider. Don't do this. You don't need to. I'm sorry I messed up, I'll try harder..."

"No Kagome," Inuyasha replied softly, his tone soothing but resolved. "Just stop. Just... _don't_." He put a clawed hand on her shoulder, squeezing. She flinched at the impersonal touch, hating it. After a moment he drew away and she heard his footsteps heading for the door. She spun around, unable to believe he was actually leaving so soon.

"That's it?" she choked out, stunned. "That's all you have to say? No goodbye kiss, no nothing?" Inuyasha stared at her impassively for a beat, before jerkily starting forward and coming to loom over her. He hooked a finger under her chin and brought her up for the saddest, most chaste kiss Kagome had experienced yet. It even beat the downtrodden liplock of earlier that morning.

'This is the sort of kiss you end a relationship on,' Kagome decided, miserably. 'This isn't the sort of kiss you give someone when you think you're going to see them again soon.'

All too quickly the kiss was over, Inuyasha letting his hand stray briefly on her cheek before whirling around and exiting the room without another word. Kagome stared after him, sobbing quietly to herself and wallowing in the sheer horror and disbelief surrounding her.

She sat that way, huddled over her blankets, for another minute, before her expression turned steely and upset and she leapt up from her bed. Quickly she located her clothing in a corner and stripped out of her hospital gown, a purpose to her movements and an uncharacteristically vindictive light in her eyes.

She wasn't going to just let him do this to her. She wasn't going to be walked all over. She would show him.

OOO

Inuyasha closed the door to Kagome's room softly behind him, his head hung low. For a moment he stood outside her door with his fists clenched, his wicked nails biting into the palms of his hands. Damn. That had been... difficult.

Shippou was going to be mad. Possibly Miroku and Sango, too. They had gotten quite close to Kagome lately. But he had already made the deal official with Kaede, before the girl had woken up but after he had forcibly kicked Kouga out of the agency, so there was nothing any of them could do about it. Still, it was going to be odd returning to his own apartment after so many weeks and...

A soft coughing off to his left side alerted Inuyasha to the presence of Kikyo, lounging against the wall a few feet away from him. She raised an eyebrow inquisitively and suddenly he was resolved again. Yes, they had already decided upon this. It was for the best. He had a job to do, and nothing was going to come between him and Naraku now.

It was almost odd how quickly things had fallen apart. Two short days and suddenly he was living in the hospital wing and Sesshomaru was gravely injured and his message about Kanna's true power was too late and now he had to let Kagome go because Kikyo had been right and she had been hurt and ...

A part of Inuyasha's mind realized he was in shock. Mere minutes ago he had been sure they were going to lose Kagome. Neither he nor Kikyo nor anyone had gotten any leads on Kanna, and he had been too afraid to leave Kagome's side so Miroku and Sango had gone out to hunt for the demon. He hadn't had much confidence in them, but they had proved him wrong, for which he was thankful.

He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes hardened as he approached the older miko. Now that Kagome was gone, he was going to live for one purpose. He was going to eat, drink and breath Naraku. He would not sleep until he had him right where he wanted him. Kagome never would have approved of such drastic measures, but...

Kikyo lifted a hand and cupped his cheek, her brown eyes searching. Inuyasha stared back at her almost numbly, his brow permanently furrowed.

"Are you all right?" she asked, as though he had been physically hurt. Who knows, maybe he had.

"Yeah," he assured her, shrugging his shoulders casually. "It's done, in any case. And now...

"Now we have work to do."

Kikyo smiled at him, a smile that was only for him. She nodded her dark head and pushed away from the wall, slowly beginning to travel down the hallway. Inuyasha started quickly after her.

"Yes, we do."

OOO

Author's Notes:

So, every couple is basically hitting it off great except for ... the central couple. Whatever. I think we can all basically guess why Inuyasha fired Kagome – the real question is, what is Kagome going to do about it? And just how tightly is Inuyasha wrapped around Kikyo's finger? I'm pretty sure we'll find out the answers to most of these questions in the next chapter – the next chapter which was going to be the original ending of this chapter. I just planned to have wayyy to much content crammed into too few installments. So... let's say this fic will be over in three more chapters. Maybe four.

Also, I promise there will be no more 'people waking up from a coma in the hospital' scenes. There was a rash of them, but now I'm done. Peace.

Rio Grande

Next Chapter – The Truth Behind All Truths

- According to Tom Robbins, this is a traditional Karo Batak tribe curse. Cool.


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